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| ▲ This Aug. 25, 2019, file photo, provided by the Navy, shows Navy and Coast Guard vessels taking part in biannual defense drills near South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) Dokdo-defense drills
(LEAD) S. Korea holds regular defense drills around Dokdo: source
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 7-9)
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea conducted biannual defense drills near its easternmost islets of Dokdo earlier this week, a military source said, in what marked the sixth such exercise held under the current administration.
"The drills took place in the East Sea on Monday," the source said, emphasizing they are part of regular drills conducted to defend South Korea's territory and its citizens' properties.
Navy and Coast Guard vessels, as well as Navy aircraft, were mobilized for the latest exercise, the source said, without providing further details.
In a similar scope compared with a drill conducted in August, the defense drills did not involve Marines.
Some of the drills in the past involved fighter jets and landing maneuvers on the islets, but they have taken place in a relatively low-key approach under the incumbent government.
Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between South Korea and Japan, as Tokyo continues to make sovereignty claims in its policy papers, public statements and school textbooks.
In response to the latest drills, Tokyo lodged a complaint through diplomatic channels.
An official at Seoul's foreign ministry said it dismissed the complaint, saying Dokdo is an "integral" part of South Korea's territory historically, geographically and under international law.
"We will continue to respond sternly to Japan's unfounded claims on Dokdo," the official said.
South Korea has been in effective control of Dokdo, with a small police detachment, since its liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
South Korea launched the defense drills in 1986 and has staged them twice a year since 2003.
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