South Korea is to hold a major military drill near the disputed Yellow Sea border with its neighbor, the North, later on this month.

South Korea is to hold a major military drill near the disputed Yellow Sea border with its neighbor, the North, later on this month.

The Defense ministry said the drill involving warships, jet fighters and Marine units will be staged as part of events to mark the second anniversary of the sinking of a corvette which claimed the lives of 46 sailors.

Seoul accused its neighbor of torpedoing the ship on March 26, 2010. The North denied responsibility for the sinking.
The exercise will show "our firm readiness to punish" any provocations by the North, a senior ministry official told reporters.

He said soldiers would hold drills or rallies separately at their barracks on March 26, when dozens of national leaders including US President Barack Obama gather for the Nuclear Security Summit in the capital.
The summit will focus on ways to safeguard atomic material worldwide and prevent acts of nuclear terrorism.

The North has blasted the forum as an "unsavory burlesque" intended to justify an atomic attack by South Korea and its US ally.

Pyongyang's new leaders have agreed a nuclear deal with the United States but have taken a consistently hostile tone with the South's conservative government and its President, Lee Myung-Bak.