South Korea staged large-scale military exercises on Friday around border islands in the Yellow Sea to practice deploying forces and suppressing the enemy quickly in the event of North Korean provocations.

According to the North West Islands Defense Command on Sunday, the drills were held around the islands of Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong near the tensely guarded western maritime border with the North.

The exercise involved the quick maneuver forces of the Marines and the Navy and their landing ship LST-II, the MUH-1 Marineon helicopter, and the Korean Assault Amphibious Vehicle(KAAV).

The Army’s special forces and their helicopters, such as the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, and the CH-47 Chinook helicopters, also joined the drills.

The exercises came amid concern that the North could carry out localized provocations ahead of the April general elections in South Korea.