US aircraft carrier to join new South Korean naval drill

[EagleOne]

Seoul, Aug 6 – The US is to send its aircraft carrier USS George Washington to participate in the South Korean naval manoeuvres in the Yellow Sea, a media report said Friday.

'The USS George Washington will exercise in the Yellow Sea, in the West Sea,' a Defence Department spokesman was quoted as saying by South Korean Yonhap News agency.


He did not provide a date for the exercise. South Korea Thursday launched a five-day anti-submarine naval drill in the Yellow Sea.


Last month, the US and South Korean navies, including the USS George Washington, conducted joint manoeuvres in the Sea of Japan, to the east of the peninsula.


July's drill was originally scheduled to take place in the Yellow Sea, but was moved after Beijing objected due to the proximity to the Chinese coast, Yonhap said.


As part of the current exercises in the Yellow Sea, the South Korean navy was planning underwater firing drills near Baengnyeong Island, close to the Northern Limit Line which represents the maritime section of the border with North Korea, Yonhap said.


The island is near the spot where the Cheonan corvette was sunk March 26 with the loss of 46 lives. A South Korean-led probe concluded that the explosion which sank the vessel was probably caused by a North Korean-made torpedo.


Pyongyang has repeatedly denied any involvement in the incident, and repeatedly threatened 'physical retaliation' to the naval drills by South Korea and the US.

IANS

 

[JBH22]

As much i doubt US intentions,i got to admit their ingenuity building such monstrous aircraft carriers.No wonder they arrived at the top place in merely 200 years of independence.

 

[SHASH2K2]

South Korea begins massive military drill
South Korean soldier on a drill, file image South Korea has conducted several drills recently

South Korea has launched its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises, the military says, despite warnings of retaliation from the North.

Some 4,500 personnel are taking part in five days of drills in the Yellow Sea, near the disputed maritime border.

The South is making a show of strength amid continuing anger over the sinking of one of its warships in March.

Seoul says a North Korean torpedo sank the Cheonan, but Pyongyang denies this and says the drills are a provocation.
Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed when the Cheonan went down in the Yellow Sea on 26 March.
'Fully prepared'

The latest drills, which follow a joint US-South Korean military exercise, will involve 29 ships and 50 planes.

Although the Ministry of Defence says the ships will stay clear of the disputed west coast sea boundary, marines stationed on islands close to the border will conduct live-fire exercises.

But military officials said that the guns would face south and described the exercises as "defensive" in nature.
"The focus of the exercises is to strengthen our response to the enemy's asymmetric provocations and also our joint operations capabilities," an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Yonhap news agency.

"We will not tolerate any kind of provocations by the enemy, and the drills will allow us to be fully prepared for combat."

In North Korea's official media, a statement attributed to military leaders called the exercises a "direct military invasion aimed at infringing upon the DPRK's [North Korea's] right to self-defence".

Military leaders "made a decisive resolution to counter the reckless naval firing projected by the group of traitors with strong physical retaliation", the statement said.

Last month, the North threatened nuclear retaliation over joint US-South Korea naval exercises, but these passed without incident.

The disputed Yellow Sea border has long been seen as a flashpoint and there have been a number of clashes there in the past.

The boundary was drawn by the UN at the end of the Korean War in the 1950s - and North Korea does not recognise it.

The US and South Korea plan to hold more military drills in the coming months - a move that could raise tensions with China.

Beijing has refused to blame Pyongyang for the sinking of the Cheonan.

It opposed the decision to hold exercises in the Yellow Sea, urging against any action that could exacerbate regional tensions, and has also held its own military exercises in recent days.

 

[Patriot]

Cross Post:

S Korea's night-time naval drills to detect N Korean submarines

SEOUL (AFP): South Korea's navy has staged intensive night-time exercises aimed at detecting North Korean submarines as a key part of its five-day drill scheduled to end Monday, military officials said.

The country's largest-ever anti-submarine exercise is going ahead in the Yellow Sea in response to an alleged North Korean attack on a South Korean warship which killed 46 sailors.

The North vehemently denies carrying out the attack in March and has threatened retaliation for the naval drill, which involves 4,500 troops, 29 ships and 50 fighter jets.

The exercise is one of a series planned in coming months, some of them with South Korea's ally the United States in a show of force against the North.

The current drill is focused on improving military capabilities to detect North Korean submarines and torpedoes, after the navy came in for strong criticism for failing to detect the alleged night attack on March 26.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the night training has been held for six to seven hours starting around 8 pm (1200 GMT), with all ships equipped with sonar taking part.

"For now, everything is proceeding in line with our drill plan," a JCS spokesman told AFP on Sunday.

A team of international investigators said they found overwhelming evidence that a North Korean submarine fired a heavy torpedo to break the corvette in two near the disputed Yellow Sea border.

The communist North says the allegations are part of a smear campaign by the South and the United States.

"The anti-submarine exercise... is a prelude to a war of aggression against the North," the newspaper of its ruling communist party, Rodong Sinmun, said yesterday.

The North's military has threatened "the most powerful" retaliation if the South triggers a conflict during the current exercise. "Our warning is not empty talk," the paper said without elaborating.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/S-Koreas-night-time-naval-drills-to-detect-N-Korean-submarines/4670/1/14.html

 

[Patriot]

US, S Korea begin anti-submarine exercise :: Brahmand.com

YONGSAN GARRISON, S KOREA (BNS): The navies of United States and South Korea have started anti-submarine warfare exercise in the waters west of the Korean peninsula on Monday.

According to the US officials, the exercise is part of a series of combined naval training events that are defensive in nature and enhance interoperability.

The exercise will be second in the series and will focus on the anti-submarine warfare tactics, techniques and procedures to improve the overall anti-submarine warfare capabilities of the US-South Korean alliance.

A File photo of South Korean Navy Patrol Combat Corvettes staging an anti-submarine exercise off the western coast town of Taean.
Participating units from the US Navy include the guided-missile destroyers USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), the ocean surveillance ship USNS Victorious (T-AGOS-19), P-3C Orion aircraft from Patrol Squadron 9 and a fast attack submarine.

The South Korean Navy will deploy two destroyers, a fast frigate, a patrol craft, P-3C aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 6 and a submarine in the exercise.

This exercise, which was originally scheduled from September 5-9, was delayed due to the Typhoon Malou arriving in Korean waters, said officials.