S. Korean navy to hold surprise anti-submarine drills next year

SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Yonhap) -- The Navy will perform random drills with its patrol ships to prepare against North Korean submarine infiltrations, officials said Wednesday. "We will simulate enemy infiltration using our own submarines for surprise exercises starting early next year," a Navy official said. "These have been designed to enhance our Navy's capability to detect infiltrating North Korean submarines." The official said the Navy will deploy its Type-209 submarine, listed at 1,200 tons, or 214-class submarine, at 1,800 tons, to simulate North Korean submarines. The Navy will not inform any patrol vessels of the exercise schedules, the official added. The official said the submarines will try to get as close as possible to a patrolling destroyer without being picked up by sonar radar. Once they reach designated positions, the Navy's Operations Command will issue an emergency order to the nearby destroyer to locate infiltrating submarines, according to the official. The official said incentives will be available for patrol vessels that successfully detect the submarines. "Since North Korea attacked the Cheonan warship, we've ratcheted up our anti-submarine drills," the official said, referring to the torpedoing of a Naval ship in the Yellow Sea in March last year that killed 46 sailors aboard. "Next year, our drills will be more intense and will closely resemble actual battles." (END)