South Korea’s Navy and Marine Corps will hold joint maneuvers this week to strengthen their ability to detect and repel a potential infiltration by North Korea into one of five islands near the tense Yellow Sea border, officials said Tuesday.

The maneuvers, the first of their kind, will be held on Friday and Saturday with an unspecified number of personnel and military assets taking part, officials at the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Tensions have run high following the North’s deadly shelling of one of the five South Korean islands in November, killing two marines and two civilians.

The attack on Yeonpyeong Island marked the first attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Despite calls for better relations with the South in the North’s New Year’s message, some analysts have warned that hostilities could flare up again early this year.

“This week’s maneuvers are aimed at practicing our defense and ability to repel a surprise infiltration into one of the Yellow Sea border islands,” said a JCS official on the condition of anonymity.

“Throughout the exercise, field commanders from the Navy and the Marine Corps will also practice their interoperability,” the official said.

Since the North’s attack on Yeonpyeong, the South’s military has beefed up its defense of the five islands by deploying more troops and weapons, including K9 self-propelled howitzers, weapons-locating radar systems and guided missiles capable of surgical strikes against North Korean artillery hidden in caves.

U.S. broadcaster Radio Free Asia recently reported, citing a source it didn’t identify, that North Korea has been training special forces to infiltrate and occupy one of the border islands, including Yeonpyeong. 

(Yonhap News)