The southern half of the Korean Peninsula stopped for 15 minutes in a simulated North Korean bacteriological and chemical attack. Fears grow that a real attack is possible.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – South Korea came to a halt today during its largest civil defence exercise since 1975. The authorities simulated a North Korean attack, a possibility many intelligence experts considers more likely now than in the recent past.

The 15-minute air raid drill began at 2 pm local time with fighter jets shrieking overhead South Korean cities. As the air siren sounded, and a notification was aired nationwide by radio stations, people rushed to air raid shelters, underground train stations, and other protected structures.

In the cities, drivers left their cars on the side of the road to seek refuge at the nearest shelter.

Civil defence officials said that not only was the drill the largest since 1975 but that for the first time since 2000 it involved planes flying over cities and car drivers ordered off the road.

The exercise did not affect South Korea’s air or maritime space, and trains and cars on freeways were told to slow down during the first three minutes of the drill.

The exercise comes in the wake of renewed fears of a possible North Korean attack. The latter appears the more likely since North Korea shelled South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. Four people were killed in that incident, including two civilians.

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