South Korea, US begin massive combined maritime drills
By Jun Ji-hye
Naval ships from South Korea and the United States began a massive combined maritime exercise around the Korean Peninsula, Monday, amid mounting military tension here.
The exercise involving the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan’s strike group will run through Friday.
U.S. Navy vessels participating in the exercise’s drills also include the USS Stethem and USS Mustin, according to the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
The Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy mobilized its first Aegis destroyer, the Sejong the Great, and other warships such as small submarines.
The Seventh Fleet said the joint exercise is being participated in by ROK Air Force, U.S. 7th Air Force and U.S. Eighth Army alongside the navies of the two countries.
Other assets mobilized include FA-18 Hornet fighters, A-10 ground attack aircraft and AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from the United States, and F-15K fighters, P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft and Lynx and AW-159 Wild Cat naval helicopters from South Korea.
As part of the exercise, the allies are scheduled to conduct a Maritime Counter Special Operations Exercise from Tuesday to Friday in waters off the east or west coasts “to promote communications, interoperability and partnership in the Seventh Fleet area of operations,” the Seventh Fleet said.
“The exercise will provide a visible and coordinated engagement for the U.S.-ROK alliance,” it said.
A U.S. Special Forces unit tasked with carrying out “decapitation” operations is reportedly aboard a nuclear-powered submarine in the strike group.
Jang Wook, a spokesman for the ROK Navy, told reporters that the drills are taking place to better prepare for North Korea’s provocations and enhance the allies’ ability to carry out joint operations.
“The exercise will be held south of the Northern Limit Line,” he said.
Military officials here said South Korea and the United States have stepped up their reconnaissance operations in preparation for any provocations by the North during the drills.
The U.S. has deployed the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System to closely monitor the North’s military activities near the border, according to sources.
Pyongyang has denounced military drills by Seoul and Washington as a rehearsal for an invasion and routinely threatens to retaliate.
The combined exercise is taking place amid heightened tension over a possible large-scale provocation such as the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The Kim Jong-un regime celebrated the founding anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party of Korea last week without carrying out any provocations. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was continuously monitoring and tracking any developments in the North as the regime there could commit a large-scale provocation at any time.
Sources earlier noted movements of personnel and equipment in the North’s missile facilities have been consistently monitored.
Russian legislators, who visited Pyongyang earlier this month, said Oct. 7 that the Kim regime plans to test a more powerful missile capable of hitting the West Coast of the United States.
Some observers raised the possibility of the North conducting a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific Ocean. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told reporters in New York during his visit to attend the United Nations General Assembly last month that this was a possibility.
The North launched two ICBMs in July and conducted its sixth nuclear test Sept. 3 claiming that it had detonated a hydrogen bomb that could be carried by an ICBM.