South Korea drills with US for ‘Hamas-style surprise attack’ from North

South Korean and US troops have been conducting live-fire exercises this week to hone their ability to respond to potential “Hamas-style surprise artillery attacks” by North Korea, South Korea’s military said Friday.

The two forces regularly conduct live-fire and other training, but this week’s drills come after the Hamas terror group’s October 7 assault on Israel raised security jitters in South Korea, which shares the world’s most heavily fortified border with rival North Korea.

Some 2,500 terrorists led by Hamas launched a surprise invasion of southern Israel from Gaza under the cover of heavy rocket and artillery fire on October 7, slaughtering some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking at least 228 more captive.

Experts say the North’s forward-deployed long-range artillery guns can fire about 16,000 rounds per hour in the event of a conflict, posing a serious threat to Seoul, which is about 40-50 kilometers (25-30 miles) from the border.

In a simulated response to “the enemy’s (possible) Hamas-style surprise artillery attacks,” the exercises practiced strikes designed to “remove the origins of the enemy’s long-range artillery provocations at an early date,” South Korea’s Ground Operations Command says in a statement.