ROK-US joint naval exercise postponed

By Jung Sung-ki

Staff reporter

A planned naval exercise between the U.S. and South Korea in the West Sea next week will be delayed, a spokesman for Seoul's Ministry of National Defense said Friday, apparently fearful of the growing tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Observers say the backtracking comes as Seoul and Washington are putting more weight on diplomatic efforts against North Korea. There are also worries about China's opposition to massive military activities in waters off its coast.

South Korea and the United States are seeking support from the international community before taking the March 26 ship sinking incident to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) for tougher sanctions against the North. But China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, has been reluctant to blame Pyongyang, its Cold War ally, for the attack.

The delay of the naval exercise followed the postponement of the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts of anti-communist propaganda near the Demilitarized Zone.

Seoul announced the resumption of psychological warfare and staging of massive naval exercises with the U.S. as part of steps in retaliation to the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship in March.

"We were notified of a plan late yesterday to delay the planned naval exercise," ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters. "South Korean and U.S. defense authorities are discussing ways of readjusting the timeline and content of their joint maritime exercise in the West Sea," Won said.

Another ministry official said on condition of anonymity that the joint naval exercise would be downscaled to a certain extent.

Earlier, South Korea announced that its Navy will hold a large-scale naval exercise with the U.S. Navy from June 7 to 11 as part of efforts to show off the allied forces' deterrent capability against North Korean provocations.

The government said a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and advanced U.S. warships will participate in the drill.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates denied any involvement of a U.S. aircraft carrier in a drill around the Korean Peninsula. Gates is in Singapore to attend an annual Asian security summit, where South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young and scores of defense ministers, policymakers and military experts from 28 countries are attending.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said, "No carriers are going anywhere near the Korean Peninsula anytime soon," He said. "No decisions of that sort have been taken yet."

However, Gates said Washington and Seoul are still consulting scenarios, including stepped-up anti-submarine exercises to deter a North Korean attack, apparently referring to the North's alleged torpedo attack on South Korea's Cheonan frigate in March. Forty-six sailors were killed in the ship sinking.

"The exercises that are being discussed in Washington and between Washington and Seoul would be some additional exercises beyond the routine exercises," he was quoted by AFP as saying.

The U.S. defense chief called North Korea "even more unpredictable than usual."

서해 한미 연합훈련 연기

다음주 진행될 예정이었던 서해 한미 해군 연합훈련이 연기되었다고 국방부 대변인은 금요일 밝혔다.

국방부는 아시아 안보회의가 열리고 있는 싱가포르에서 기자들과 만나 오늘 7일부터 열릴 계획이던 연합훈련이 미국측의 준비 사정으로 지연되었다고 말했다.

그러나 일각에서는 이번 결정이 한국과 미국이 북한에 대한 외교적 조치에 무게를 싣는것과 관련이 있다고 보고있다. 또 훈련에 대한 중국의 반발을 고려한 조치라는 해석도 있다.

이와 관련 싱가포르를 방문중인 미국 국방부장관 로버트 게이트는 대형 환경모함을 연합훈련에 참여시킬 예정이라는 보도를 부인했다. 게이트 장관 대변인은 "항공모함 파견은 예정되어있지 않다"며 "아직 결정이 난 사안이 아니다"라고 밝혔다.