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SEOUL - South Korea will stage a nationwide civil defense training on Tuesday, mobilizing military vehicles and chemical reconnaissance vehicles for the first time, the government said Monday.

The training will be replaced by evacuation exercises in areas off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, deemed vulnerable to possible tsunami, in response to the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that ravaged neighboring Japan last week, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.

The public is advised to take shelter under hypothetical emergency scenarios during the training, which is scheduled to start on Tuesday at 02:00 pm local time, the government said.