SEOUL, October 27. /TASS/. South Korea and the US are conducting large-scale drills to practice repelling a sudden attack with mass artillery use, mirroring the radical Palestinian group Hamas’ recent offensive against Israel, including in the area bordering North Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean military.

The military exercise kicked off on October 25 and will run until October 27. Its goal is to enhance the level of preparedness for fighting an adversary’s long-range artillery in the event of a sudden attack. More than 5,400 troops from both sides and about 300 units of artillery have been engaged in the country-wide drills. The training is taking place amid public debate over whether the South Korean military is sufficiently prepared to repel a sudden attack with broad use of artillery similar to the offensive by Hamas, which delivered a massive rocket strike on Israel on October 7.

According to the news agency, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has about 340 long-range artillery units on the border, capable of striking targets within the Seoul capital district, home to about half of South Korea’s population. On October 27, K9 and K55 self-propelled artillery systems were involved in the drills with service munitions at testing grounds in the borderline Cheorwon County.

Additionally, the three-day military exercise involves unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), counterbattery radars, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), South Korean F-15K fighter jets and US A-10 attack aircraft. The current drill is part of the Hoguk field training exercise, which kicked off on October 16 and will continue until November 22.