[koreatimes] The [ROK] Navy plans to complete by the end of this year a base on the northernmost island in the West Sea to better deal with maritime provocations along the inter-Korean sea border, military officials said Friday.The base on Baengnyeong Island is expected to upgrade Seoul's sea capability significantly as it will accommodate advanced patrol boats, such as a 570-ton guarded-missile patrol killer, or PKG, and a 170-ton patrol killer medium vessel, or PKM.
It will also accommodate up to 100 troops.
The island is just south of the sea border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL).
"Construction will likely be completed by the end of this year," a Navy official said.
The base on Daecheong Island, south of Baengnyeong Island, can handle PKMs.
But the PKGs have had to be based at the Pyeongtaek base in Gyeonggi Province since the South launched 15 PKGs after an inter-Korean naval skirmish near Yeonpyeong Island in 1999.
"The Baengnyeong base, which is capable of deploying the PKGs, will enable the Navy to cope with Pyongyang's violations of the NLL and its maritime provocations more promptly," the official said.
The new base, which will cost 42.5 billion won ($42 million), will be on the southern part of the Baengnyeong Island, just 10 kilometers from the tense West Sea border.
The U.N. drew the line unilaterally at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but the North has refused to respect it, frequently provoking Seoul.
Last month, the North fired shells near a South Korean high-speed patrol boat in the West Sea.
The official said the Navy was on alert around the clock to guard against the North's patrol boats, which often cross the border.