Channel A Top Ten News programs reports the South Korean ROK Army East Sea (Sea of Japan) coastal zone firing exercise scheduled for November has been cancelled. These exercises normally are scheduled to take place in April and November in recent years. The exercise takes place in Gangwon province, Goseong county on the East Sea Coast around the Songchiho beach area (about 15 km north of Sokcho). The exercises typically involve simultaneous marine and land live firing exercises. The primary weapon systems used are the Chonmu 230mm multiple rocker launcher system, and the K-9 155mm self propelled artillery.
The exercises are being cancelled because the Songchiho firing zone lies within the military buffer zone of the East Sea, which extends 40 km north and south of the Military Demarcation Line in the DMZ and the North Limit Line extension into the East Sea. One of the program's analsyts suggested that it was going to be difficult to find an alternative remote location to conduct these large scale mobilization and firepower exercises further away from the DMZ restricted area. Live firing and other "hostile" actions cannot take place in this region under the terms of the recent military agreement signed by the military leaders of North and South Korea.
The program went on to discuss the continuing controversy raised by the opposition Liberty Korea Party in the National Assembly, concerning implementation of the military agreement signed on September 18, at the Pyongyang Summit, before the North has demonstrated a more substantial and concrete denuclearization effort. Kim Song Te, the party leader, likened the action to registering the name and birthdate of child before it was born. The Moon administration contends that time is of the essence in implementation of these military measures and that delaying action until ratification by the National Assembly would impair the efficacy of the measures to reduce military tension and did meet Constitutional requirements. The Liberty Party Korea leader is filing an action for an injunction against implementation of the military agreement with the courts. In another news broadcast, the Blue House representative commented that the conservative opposition party was engaged in a self serving political action rather than responding to genuine security concerns. It is the administration's position that reducing the threat environment and creating conditions conducive to peace will facilitate denuclearization of the North.
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