Multiple launch rocket system deployed on Yeonpyeong

Military authorities deployed Monday a multiple launch rocket system on Yeonpyeong Island and increased the number of K-9 self-propelled guns on the second day of a joint naval exercise with the U.S.

This seems to be an emergency response to North Korea’s deployment of 122-millimeter multiple rocket launchers and coast artillery. The rocket system captured by a Dong-A Ilbo camera can shoot 36 130-millimeter shells in 20 seconds and devastate an area four times the size of a soccer field with only 12 rockets.

Seoul also added five or six K-9s to double the number of the guns on Yeonpyeong. Outgoing Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said last week at the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, “We have six K-9s on Yeonpyeong Island and will increase the number.”

The military also deployed a K-10 ammunition resupply vehicle.

mhpark@donga.com