RoK holds live-fire drills near Korean border
The Republic of Korea (RoK) began
large-scale live-fire drills near the border with Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (DPRK) on March 24.
According to the RoK
Defence Ministry, the drills took place in Pocheon, about 30km south of
the inter-Korean border, with the involvement of tanks, armoured
vehicles, artillery, helicopters and fighter jets.
Earlier on
March 23, the RoK Government said the army was conducting week-long
naval exercises from March 21 on the occasion of one year of the Cheonan
warship sinking.
The inter-Korean ties were tense after the
Cheonan warship sinking was blamed on the DPRK. However, Pyongyang
rejected all accusations relating to the case.
In another vein,
the two Koreas on March 24 agreed to the venue and time for a meeting
to discuss volcanic activities at Mount Baekdu .
According to the RoK Unification Ministry, both sides’ experts will meet on March 29 in the RoK border city of Munsan .
Standing
at 2,774m, Mt Baekdu is the highest mountain on the peninsula and
considered a sacred symbol of ancestry by both sides. The volcano last
erupted in 1903.
The two Korean sides agreed to conduct joint research on the volcano in 2007, but are yet to promote any detailed activities./.