Military Conducts Closed Dokdo Defense Drill on the 16th

The Sixth Since the Current Government Took Office

Military authorities conducted a closed-door Dokdo defense exercise on the 16th. This is the sixth Dokdo defense exercise under the current government, and the previous five exercises were also held privately.

Yonhap News

A military official stated on the 17th, "Yesterday, we conducted an East Sea territorial defense exercise in the East Sea," adding, "It is a regular exercise carried out to protect our territory and citizens' property."

The military refers to the twice-yearly Dokdo defense exercises conducted near Dokdo as the "East Sea Territorial Defense Exercise." This exercise was conducted on a scale similar to the Dokdo defense exercise held on August 21. Naval and Coast Guard vessels participated, but there was no landing of Marine Corps troops on Dokdo.

In the past, military authorities publicly conducted relatively large-scale Dokdo defense exercises by deploying Air Force fighter jets and Marine landing forces and announcing the exercise plans in advance. However, under the current government, the exercises have been conducted on a relatively smaller scale each time without prior notice to the media.

The Dokdo defense exercise was first implemented in 1986 and has been regularly conducted twice a year since 2003. Each time the Dokdo defense exercise is announced, Japan protests to our government. It is understood that the decision to hold all Dokdo defense exercises privately under the current government takes into account such reactions from Japan.

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