BBC Learning English
Words in the News
20

th

December 2010

South Korea holds military drill

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2010

Page 1 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

South Korea has held a training exercise with guns on Yeonpyeong Island. Four people were

killed on the island last month, by a shell fired from North Korea. Pyongyang has again

warned that the South was pushing the peninsula "to the brink of war". Chris Hogg reports.

South Korea has gone ahead with the military drills on Yeonpyeong Island despite warnings

from China and Russia that they could provoke a confrontation with Pyongyang. For South

Korea, it's a matter of sovereignty.

The military says the drills are on the southern side of the island. The government in Seoul

halted the live-firing exercises when North Korea attacked last month, but doesn't want to

give the impression that Pyongyang can deter it from carrying out defensive manoeuvres

south of the disputed border.

The United States, which carried out joint military exercises with the South at the end of last

month, has defended Seoul's right to stage the drills. South Korea says it has launched fighter

jets to deter any North Korean attacks.

Chris Hogg, BBC News, Beijing

Words in the News

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2010

Page 2 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

gone ahead

proceeded

drills

here, training exercises

warnings

advice or messages of concern

provoke a confrontation

deliberately make someone annoyed, with the aim of

making them behave in an aggressive way

sovereignty

the power that a country has to govern or rule itself

live-firing

shooting real bullets from guns or other weapons

carrying out

doing something or putting something into practice

stage

organise or host

fighter jets

military planes

deter

here, to persuade a country not to do something

More on this story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12039477

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/12/101220_witn_korea_drill_page.shtml