SEOUL, Jun 14 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s military will conduct a defence drill near the islets disputed with Japan, it was reported today, citing unnamed government and military sources.
The maritime exercise, called the East Sea Territory Protection Exercise, will be staged tomorrow, near the Dokdo islets, called Takeshima by Japan.
The exercise, which has been held usually twice a year since 1986, would reportedly mobilise naval and coast guard vessels, fighter jets and maritime patrol aircraft.
No landing drill will be carried out, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan protested against the exercise, as it laid territorial claims to the rocky outcrops lying halfway between South Korea and Japan.
South Korea regained its sovereignty over the islets, after liberation from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonisation of the Korean Peninsula. The islets were incorporated into Japan, during the colonisation.– NNN-YONHAP
