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South Korea's military will conduct a life-firing drill near Yeonpyeong Island over the weekend. But island residents are worried about North Korea's reaction to the drill, while civic groups rallied in Seoul to call for peace.
Residents living on Yeonpyeong Island expressed concern over a live-firing drill on Friday.
South Korea's defense ministry announced on Thursday its military would conduct a live-firing exercise near the island between December 18th and 21st.
Island residents are worried about how the North may react to the firing exercise.
[Lee Chul-hun, Farmer]:
"I heard that there would be a firing exercise here. Even though they might not attack North Korea, I'm very nervous."
An island resident says he still shudders from the memories of the recent attack, where North Korea fired a barrage of artillery at Yeonpyeong Island.
[Kim Young-soo, Island Resident]:
"The memory of the shelling comes to me every night. I took some pictures on the top of the emergency shelter, my heart is still pounding."
And in Seoul, a small group of anti-war civic group members staged a rally on Friday in front of the defense ministry, urging South Korea to stop the firing drill.
[You Young-Jae, Protest Leader]:
"We are suspicious that the South Korean defense ministry is trying to induce the North to be involved in a regional war by conducting a firing exercise. It's possible that North Korea could respond by firing artillery shells."
North Korea says it shelled Yeonpyeong Island in response to South Korean actions.
According to the South, one of its artillery units on the island had conducted a regular firing exercise prior to the North's attack. Seoul has said the firing exercise was directed away from North Korea.
