22nd Anniversary Ceremony of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong Victory... "North Korea Forgets Defeat and Provokes"

On the 29th, Shin Won-sik, Minister of National Defense, stated at the 22nd anniversary commemoration ceremony of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong, "If the enemy provokes again, we will retaliate strongly."

On the morning of the 29th, Shin Won-sik, Minister of National Defense, is paying respects at the '22nd Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong' held at the Navy 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. / Photo by Yonhap News

The ceremony was held at the Pyeongtaek 2nd Fleet Command under the supervision of Kim Kyung-chul, Commander of the 2nd Fleet. About 300 people attended, including veterans who participated in the battle such as Lee Hee-wan, Vice Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, bereaved families of the fallen soldiers, Shin Won-sik, Minister of National Defense, Kang Jeong-ae, Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Yang Yong-mo, Chief of Naval Operations, and others. Politicians such as Han Dong-hoon, Won Hee-ryong, Na Kyung-won, candidates for the People Power Party leadership, Hwang Woo-yeo, Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, and Cho Guk, leader of the Innovation Party, were also present.

In his commemorative speech, Minister Shin called out the names of the soldiers who died in the battle one by one and said, "The fighting spirit shown by the six heroes and veterans will live forever in our hearts." He then mentioned North Korea's provocations near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea, including artillery fire and GPS signal jamming, criticizing, "North Korea has forgotten the bitter defeat from 22 years ago."

He added, "Our military will firmly retaliate based on the principle of immediate, strong, and thorough (즉·강·끝) if the enemy provokes again," emphasizing, "Only strong power can protect peace, and we will demonstrate this historical lesson through our actions."

The Second Battle of Yeonpyeong was triggered around 10 a.m. on June 29, 2002, during the Korea-Japan World Cup, when two North Korean patrol boats crossed the NLL and launched a preemptive surprise attack on our Navy's Chamsuri 357 patrol boat. Our military responded immediately, and the North Korean forces suffered over 30 casualties and retreated. However, six soldiers, including Major Yoon Young-ha, the captain of Chamsuri 357 at the time, were killed in action.

In 2022, the Navy emphasized that the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong was a victorious battle by changing the name of the event from a general commemoration ceremony to a victory commemoration ceremony, and also renamed the monument within the 2nd Fleet Command from Jeonseokbi (戰蹟碑, Battle Site Monument) to Jeonseungbi (戰勝碑, Victory Monument).