2023/10/20
The Ministry of National Defense issues a press release explaining media reports stating that "a whale-watching group from Yilan was shelled" (October 20, 2023)
Press release of the Ministry of National Defense
Time: October 20, 2023 at 22:20
In response to media reports stating that "a whale-watching group from Yilan was shelled", the Ministry of National Defense (MND) stated today (20th) that the Daifu Weapons Testing Ground of the Armament Bureau issued a firing notice on September 18 about its firing bulletin for October, and announced there would be firing exercises in the sea control area today. From 14:00 to 16:30, the unit carried out radar scanning over the control area, and confirmed there were no ships, so it fired a 120 mm mortar dummy shell (with no explosives). However, it received a notification from the Coast Guard at 17:10 saying that the shelling was suspected to have impacted the side of a fishing boat. As such, the Armament Bureau has put together special personnel in an ad-hoc team to conduct a complete investigation with the purpose of ensuring the safety of ships operating at sea while balancing testing goals for weapons and equipment.