Large-scale Naval Gunnery Exercise Conducted at Naeju... All Land, Sea, and Air Power Weapons Assembled

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] The military will conduct a large-scale joint maritime live-fire exercise next week. Despite the government keeping it under wraps due to North Korea's opposition to our military's training, the large-scale exercise is proceeding, making it an unusual drill.

According to government officials on the 15th, the military plans to conduct a large-scale live-fire exercise on the afternoon of the 19th at the waters off Jukbyeon, Uljin-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, mobilizing ground, naval, and air forces. The reason for holding the exercise at Jukbyeon waters is due to the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement. In accordance with this agreement, the military has effectively closed the only live-fire artillery training ground for the army, the Songjiho firing range in Goseong, Gangwon Province.

This exercise assumes a scenario where North Korea provokes military aggression in the East Sea, using advanced detection means to identify targets and striking both the point of provocation and supporting forces with joint ground and naval firepower. All ground, naval, and air forces will be assembled for the live-fire exercise. First, the army will deploy the Cheonmu (MLRS), known as the "Korean version of Steel Rain." Cheonmu conducted live-fire exercises at the Songjiho firing range in 2017 during heightened military tensions between the two Koreas but has refrained from live-fire exercises since the September 19 agreement. The guided missiles launched from Cheonmu, with a maximum range of 80 km, hit targets about 40 km away.

The Apache helicopter (AH-64E), considered the world's most powerful attack helicopter, will also be deployed. An Apache helicopter from the Army Aviation Operations Command in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, recently flew about 250 km to Jukbyeon waters to conduct live-fire training with Hellfire air-to-ground guided missiles. In April, the Apache helicopter flew from Icheon to the waters near Namhyungje Island off Busan to conduct takeoff and landing training on the Dokdo ship.

The navy will deploy Harpoon missiles and Haeseong-I. Assuming a scenario where North Korean submarines have infiltrated, the navy plans to conduct live-fire with the Harpoon air-to-ship guided missile from the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and the submarine-launched Harpoon missile. The Harpoon missile is usually fired during RIMPAC, the world's largest international naval exercise, making domestic live-fire rare. Haeseong-I is a weapon that precisely strikes targets guided by satellite and inertial navigation systems (GPS/INS). It has a range of 150 km and a speed reaching Mach 0.9.

The air force will fire AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles mounted on the FA-50 light attack aircraft. This is reportedly the first time Maverick missiles will be fired in a joint exercise. The Maverick missile can attack tanks, armored vehicles, air defense systems, and ships, with a range of 22 km.

Some speculate that the government is likely to keep the exercise confidential to avoid provoking North Korea. The military conducted a joint defense exercise with the Navy's 2nd Fleet in the West Sea operational area on the 6th but did not announce it. Although this exercise was held in front of Gunsan, not in the "West Sea Peace Zone" related to the September 19 agreement, there is criticism that it was an excessive action due to concerns about North Korean backlash.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.