(LEAD) Navy holds drills to honor fallen troops from naval clashes with N. Korea

▲ Warships take part in a four-day exercise to honor service members killed during military clashes with North Korea in the Yellow Sea and sharpen their combat readiness posture on March 25, 2026, in this photo provided by the Navy the following day. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Navy-drills

(LEAD) Navy holds drills to honor fallen troops from naval clashes with N. Korea

(ATTN: UPDATES with ceremony for fallen troops in last 4 paras)

SEOUL, March 26 (Yonhap) -- The Navy launched maneuvering drills this week to honor service members killed during naval clashes with North Korea in the Yellow Sea and sharpen its combat readiness posture, the armed service said Thursday.

As part of the four-day exercise set to conclude Friday, naval troops have been conducting intensive drills aimed at strengthening their anti-submarine warfare, tactical maneuvering and firing capabilities, according to the Navy.

Some 20 surface ships, including the 8,200-ton Jeongjo the Great destroyer, submarines, the P-3 and P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft, and the AW-159 naval helicopter, have been mobilized for the exercise conducted in the eastern and western coasts, it added.

The drills came as South Korea commemorates the 55 sailors and Marines killed in major clashes with North Korea near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) -- a de facto inter-Korean maritime border -- this week.

On Thursday, the Navy also held a remembrance ceremony to honor troops killed during the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan corvette by a North Korean attack in the Yellow Sea.

The 1,200-ton warship sank near the western NLL in March 2010, after a North Korean midget submarine fired a torpedo, killing 46 sailors.

Some 200 guests, including the bereaved family members and surviving sailors, as well as the vice defense minister, took part in the ceremony marking the 16th anniversary of the incident, held at the 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul.

"The Navy and the Marine Corps will eternally not forget that the peace of our waters lies on the back of their sacrifice and will continue to firmly defend the maritime security of South Korea they fought to protect with their lives," Naval Chief of Operations Adm. Kim Kyung-ryul said in a message.

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