China holds 'unprecedented' live-fire drills in Yellow Sea

BEIJING, July 4 (Yonhap) -- China's military has launched what it calls "unprecedented" firing drills in the Yellow Sea, located between the Korean Peninsula and China, with its electronic warfare units taking part in the air and sea maneuver.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army's Daily, the Chinese military's official newspaper, reported late Friday that the drills began that day, without specifying the exact location and how long the drills would continue.

The drills mobilized an unusually large number of military assets and electronic warfare units.

"Almost 100 warships and tens of naval aviation planes, as well as electronic countermeasure forces, which were divided into the red army and blue army, carried out intensive confrontations within a short period of time, including long-range fire assaults, coordinated assaults at surface targets and comprehensive air defense and anti-missile operations," the PLA Daily reported.

"The density of fire was unprecedented. Both sides used real weapons in the whole process of the confrontation, during which missiles, torpedoes, artillery shells and jamming bombs were fired more densely than before," it said.

Electronic warfare units of the Shenyang Military Area Command, which is close to North Korea, and the Jinan Military Area Command took part in the drills, according to the report.

Their participation "turned the naval drill into a multiservice joint exercise, making the drill more close to a real IT-based sea battle," it said.

China always has been sensitive over joint military drills by South Korea and the United States in the Yellow Sea, which have been defensive in nature and conducted to increase their defense posture against North Korea's provocations.

kdh@yna.co.kr
(END)