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US holds drills off Korea as Pyongyang talks war
US and South Korean warships and helicopters practiced anti-submarine manoeuvre off the Korean peninsula Monday, readying defenses against the kind of weapon that allegedly sank a South Korean navy vessel earlier this year.
The destruction of the Cheonan in March, which has been blamed on a North Korean torpedo, killed 46 sailors in what officials called the worst military attack on the South since the 1950-53 Korean War.
The four-day "Invincible Spirit" exercises involving 20 ships, 200 aircraft and about 8,000 US and South Korean sailors are being held in the waters off Korea's east coast in response to the sinking, bringing threats of retaliation from North Korea, which denies responsibility for the attack.
The anti-submarine phase of the training which also involves anti-ship and anti-aircraft operations is particularly important because an international investigation found that the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo launched from a North Korean submarine that somehow penetrated South Korea's defenses.
"I am concerned about every submarine underwater that I don't know about," said Capt. David Lausman, the commanding officer of the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered supercarrier deployed to the manoeuvre from its home port in Japan.
Lausman said the attack demonstrated the opaque nature of Pyongyang's military, which he said should not be underestimated.
"North Korea's danger lies because they are unpredictable," he said. "The sinking of the Cheonan is a prime example."
North Korea has strongly protested the exercises, saying they are a provocation and threatening retaliation. In flourishes of rhetoric typical of the regime, it vowed to respond with a "sacred war" and a "powerful nuclear deterrence."
"They will face a costly consequence if they stick to the criminal activities ravaging peace and security on the Korean peninsula," North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
US officials say that the manoeuvre, held well away from North Korea's border, are not intended to provoke a response, but add that they do want to send Pyongyang a message that further aggression in the region will not be tolerated and that the alliance between the US and South Korea remains strong.
On Monday, Gen Han Min-goo, chief of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, was to tour the George Washington.
The exercises are the first in a series of US-South Korean manoeuvre conducted in the East Sea off Korea and in the Yellow Sea closer to China's shores in international waters.
They are the first to employ the F-22 stealth fighter which can evade North Korean air defenses in South Korea.
The North routinely threatens attacks whenever South Korea and the US hold joint military drills, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for an invasion. The US keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea and another 50,000 in Japan, but says it has no intention of invading the North.
Pyongyang's latest rhetoric was seen by most as bluster. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it had not observed any significant moves by the North Korean military since the manoeuvre began Sunday.
But the North's latest rhetoric carries extra weight following the sinking of the Cheonan that dramatically intensified tension on the Korean peninsula. The ship sank near the tense western sea border, a scene of three bloody inter-Korean maritime battles in recent years.
The peninsula technically remains at state of war because an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War was never replaced with a peace treaty. Tuesday marks the 57th anniversary of the signing of the cease-fire.
North Korea says the investigation results were fabricated and has warned the United States against attempting to punish it.
Cmdr Ray Hesser, head of an anti-submarine helicopter squadron on the George Washington, said North Korean submarines are largely restricted to shallow, coastal waters.
"We're not expecting to see them out here," he said. "I would not think they would be willing or wanting to come all the way out here."
He said the attack on the Cheonan probably came when the ship was not prepared and said US ships observe higher readiness.
"It was like sucker punch," he said. "It doesn't say much about how much of a fighter you are."
Still, Capt. Ross Myers, the commander of the George Washington's air wing, said the threats were being taken seriously.
"There is a lot they can do," he said. "They have ships, they have subs, they have airplanes. They are a credible threat."
The manoeuvre underscore a diplomatic blitz by the United States aimed at further tightening the screws on North Korea.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced during a visit to Seoul last week that the US would slap new sanctions on the North to stifle its nuclear ambitions and punish it for the Cheonan sinking.
The European Union is also considering new sanctions on North Korea.
The deployment of the supercarrier to the area off Korea was also raising eyebrows in China which was believed to have been concerned about having the carrier operate too close to its own shores. In an apparent bow to China, there are no plans for the George Washington to enter the Yellow Sea for subsequent drills with South Korea though it is taking part in the East Sea training.
US holds drills off Korea as Pyongyang talks war
US and South Korean warships and helicopters practiced anti-submarine manoeuvre off the Korean peninsula Monday, readying defenses against the kind of weapon that allegedly sank a South Korean navy vessel earlier this year.
The destruction of the Cheonan in March, which has been blamed on a North Korean torpedo, killed 46 sailors in what officials called the worst military attack on the South since the 1950-53 Korean War.
The four-day "Invincible Spirit" exercises involving 20 ships, 200 aircraft and about 8,000 US and South Korean sailors are being held in the waters off Korea's east coast in response to the sinking, bringing threats of retaliation from North Korea, which denies responsibility for the attack.
The anti-submarine phase of the training which also involves anti-ship and anti-aircraft operations is particularly important because an international investigation found that the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo launched from a North Korean submarine that somehow penetrated South Korea's defenses.
"I am concerned about every submarine underwater that I don't know about," said Capt. David Lausman, the commanding officer of the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered supercarrier deployed to the manoeuvre from its home port in Japan.
Lausman said the attack demonstrated the opaque nature of Pyongyang's military, which he said should not be underestimated.
"North Korea's danger lies because they are unpredictable," he said. "The sinking of the Cheonan is a prime example."
North Korea has strongly protested the exercises, saying they are a provocation and threatening retaliation. In flourishes of rhetoric typical of the regime, it vowed to respond with a "sacred war" and a "powerful nuclear deterrence."
"They will face a costly consequence if they stick to the criminal activities ravaging peace and security on the Korean peninsula," North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
US officials say that the manoeuvre, held well away from North Korea's border, are not intended to provoke a response, but add that they do want to send Pyongyang a message that further aggression in the region will not be tolerated and that the alliance between the US and South Korea remains strong.
On Monday, Gen Han Min-goo, chief of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, was to tour the George Washington.
The exercises are the first in a series of US-South Korean manoeuvre conducted in the East Sea off Korea and in the Yellow Sea closer to China's shores in international waters.
They are the first to employ the F-22 stealth fighter which can evade North Korean air defenses in South Korea.
The North routinely threatens attacks whenever South Korea and the US hold joint military drills, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for an invasion. The US keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea and another 50,000 in Japan, but says it has no intention of invading the North.
Pyongyang's latest rhetoric was seen by most as bluster. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it had not observed any significant moves by the North Korean military since the manoeuvre began Sunday.
But the North's latest rhetoric carries extra weight following the sinking of the Cheonan that dramatically intensified tension on the Korean peninsula. The ship sank near the tense western sea border, a scene of three bloody inter-Korean maritime battles in recent years.
The peninsula technically remains at state of war because an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War was never replaced with a peace treaty. Tuesday marks the 57th anniversary of the signing of the cease-fire.
North Korea says the investigation results were fabricated and has warned the United States against attempting to punish it.
Cmdr Ray Hesser, head of an anti-submarine helicopter squadron on the George Washington, said North Korean submarines are largely restricted to shallow, coastal waters.
"We're not expecting to see them out here," he said. "I would not think they would be willing or wanting to come all the way out here."
He said the attack on the Cheonan probably came when the ship was not prepared and said US ships observe higher readiness.
"It was like sucker punch," he said. "It doesn't say much about how much of a fighter you are."
Still, Capt. Ross Myers, the commander of the George Washington's air wing, said the threats were being taken seriously.
"There is a lot they can do," he said. "They have ships, they have subs, they have airplanes. They are a credible threat."
The manoeuvre underscore a diplomatic blitz by the United States aimed at further tightening the screws on North Korea.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced during a visit to Seoul last week that the US would slap new sanctions on the North to stifle its nuclear ambitions and punish it for the Cheonan sinking.
The European Union is also considering new sanctions on North Korea.
The deployment of the supercarrier to the area off Korea was also raising eyebrows in China which was believed to have been concerned about having the carrier operate too close to its own shores. In an apparent bow to China, there are no plans for the George Washington to enter the Yellow Sea for subsequent drills with South Korea though it is taking part in the East Sea training.
US holds drills off Korea as Pyongyang talks war
