ID :
199233
Fri, 08/05/2011 - 06:12
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/199233
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S. Korea to conduct annual emergency drill
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea will carry out an annual exercise to better prepare for wars and other emergency situations in the middle of this month, the home affairs ministry said Friday.
The "Ulchi Freedom Guardian" drill set for Aug. 16-19 will involve 440,000 officials at 3,800 government offices and some state-controlled civilian firms, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said.
On Friday, the government held a preparatory meeting with Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and 90 senior officials from major government organizations attending, the ministry said.
This year's exercise will focus on going over the government manual for tackling a regional war with North Korea and evacuating people in emergency situations as well as responding to cyber attacks from the communist state, it said.
South Korea has annually staged the exercise since July 1968 after 31 North Korean commandos infiltrated Seoul in a botched attempt to assassinate then President Park Chung-hee.
Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula after the North's two deadly attacks on the South killed 50 South Koreans last year.
Seoul has also accused Pyongyang of staging the cyber attacks on the Web sites of major South Korean government agencies and financial institutions in March and in July 2009. Pyongyang rejected those allegations, accusing Seoul of inventing the charges to raise tensions.
The "Ulchi Freedom Guardian" drill set for Aug. 16-19 will involve 440,000 officials at 3,800 government offices and some state-controlled civilian firms, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said.
On Friday, the government held a preparatory meeting with Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and 90 senior officials from major government organizations attending, the ministry said.
This year's exercise will focus on going over the government manual for tackling a regional war with North Korea and evacuating people in emergency situations as well as responding to cyber attacks from the communist state, it said.
South Korea has annually staged the exercise since July 1968 after 31 North Korean commandos infiltrated Seoul in a botched attempt to assassinate then President Park Chung-hee.
Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula after the North's two deadly attacks on the South killed 50 South Koreans last year.
Seoul has also accused Pyongyang of staging the cyber attacks on the Web sites of major South Korean government agencies and financial institutions in March and in July 2009. Pyongyang rejected those allegations, accusing Seoul of inventing the charges to raise tensions.
