By Lee Tae-hoon
South Korean and U.S. troops held their first joint logistics support drill in the West Sea as part of the ongoing Foal Eagle exercise, the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) announced Wednesday.
Twenty-four ships, 91 vehicles and some 440 soldiers from the allies participated in the three-day combined-joint logistics over the shore (CJ-LOTS) operation that kicked off on Anmyeon Island off the west coast Tuesday, the CFC said in a statement.
Observers say the two allies are staging the large-scale transportation drill in a show of force exhibiting their military capabilities ahead of the first anniversary of the sinking of the frigate Cheonan on March 26.
Forty-six South Korean sailors lost their lives when the 1,200-ton warship sank after a North Korean torpedo attack.
The CJ-LOTS consists of loading and unloading ships without fixed port facilities, and is aimed at improving the skills required to move military equipment and supplies in friendly territory in time of war.
"This exercise helps our troops improve a key logistical capability," R. Adm. Sohn Cha-soo of the South Korean Navy said.
The drill is part of the Foal Eagle exercise that began on Feb. 28 amid high tension on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's two deadly attacks against South Korea last year.
Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in the South as a deterrent against the North, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War which ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
Meanwhile, the South Korean Navy is planning to stage large-scale naval drills both in the West Sea, where the Cheonan was sunk, and in the East Sea for three days from Friday through Sunday.
The South Korean Army and Air Force are expected to stage joint live-fire drills in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, today.