Shelling Anniversary

[Anchor Lead]

Thursday marked the 7th anniversary of North Korea's shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong-do Island. The Marine Corps held a memorial ceremony and combat drills, showcasing their resolve against North Korea's provocations.

[Pkg]

In the afternoon of November 23rd in 2010, North Korea fired around 170 shells toward the peaceful South Korean island of Yeonpyeongdo in protest of a joint South Korea-US military exercise. South Korea's Marine Corps immediately shot back firing 80 rounds of the K-9 self-propelled howitzer. However four South Koreans were killed including two Marines, Staff Sergeant Seo Jeong-woo and Private First Class Moon Gwang-wuk. A ceremony marking the 7th anniversary of the deadly incident was held at Daejeon National Cemetery amid a snowfall. Some 200 people attended including bereaved families and fellow comrades and they paid respects to the fallen heroes. Soldiers vowed to no longer tolerate any reckless provocations by North Korea.

[Soundbite] Jun Jin-goo(Marine Corps Commander) : "If enemy forces wage another provocation, we will severely retaliate, be triumphant and deliver news of the victory to the public and the two fallen heroes."

Right at the time when North Korea's shelling began seven years ago, a combat drill was held assuming a scenario of ambush enemy bombardment. The Marine Corps mobilized its staple K-9 howitzer which has a maximum range of 40 kilometers as well as the multiple launch rocket system Chunmoo, and demonstrated its determination to suppress enemy provocations at the source of origin.