S. Korea-US military drill kicks off

By Kim Se-jeong

Staff reporter

As North Korea sounded off belligerent war threats, the massive nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington headed to the East Sea Sunday for a massive joint naval exercise with South Korea.

Code-named “Invincible Spirit,” the drill will demonstrate a show of the allies’ strong deterrence against North Korean provocations in the wake of the attack on the South Korean frigate Cheonan in March. Set to run through Wednesday, the exercise will mobilize 8,000 U.S. and South Korean troops. About 200 fighter jets, naval aircraft and helicopters will conduct training missions in and around the Korean Peninsula.

In addition, about 20 warships, including the USS George Washington, the South Korean Navy’s 14,000-ton Dokdo large-deck landing ship and attack submarines, will participate in the exercise. The USS George Washington, carrying about 80 aircraft, including F-18 fighter jets and the E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, has an operational range of 1,000 kilometers that covers all of North Korea and beyond.

Four U.S. stealth fighters, the F-22 Raptor, will be deployed for the first time. These stealth fighters can evade North Korean air defenses. Also, four Japanese officers will be on board the USS George Washington observing the exercise. In an effort to prevent another Cheonan-style crisis, an underwater torpedo exercise is also going to take place.

The defense ministers from the U.S. and South Korea announced earlier last week that they would wage the military exercise to send North Korea a clear message to halt “aggressive” behavior, condemning the North for the torpedo attack.

A five-nation investigation team concluded in May that the South’s naval vessel was sunk by a North Korean torpedo. The North denied the findings.

Over the weekend, North Korea threatened the U.S. and South Korea, saying the drill was an “unpardonable military provocation.”

“The army and the people of the DPRK will legitimately counter with their powerful nuclear deterrence against the largest-ever nuclear war exercises to be staged by the U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces,” the North’s powerful National Defense Commission said in a statement Saturday.

The North’s military “will start a retaliatory sacred war of their own style based on nuclear deterrent any time necessary in order to counter the U.S.,” said the statement carried by its official news agency.

North Korea typically goes saber-rattling ahead of planned military exercises. U.S. Statement Department spokesman Philip Crowley countered, saying, “We are not interested in a war of words with North Korea.” “What we need from North Korea is fewer provocative words and more constructive action.”

South Korea’s military was closely monitoring its North Korean counterpart, which showed no particular movement on Sunday.

The exercise is the first joint South Korea-U.S. maneuvers in the East Sea and the Yellow Sea. China has been strongly protesting the planned maneuver. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said earlier last week in a press release that “we would oppose any military activity in the nearby ocean that would potentially threaten our security.”

The naval drill was supposed to take place in the Yellow Sea but was moved to the East Sea in the face of complaints from China. It will be followed by the annual “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” exercise in mid-August.

미항모 동해 한미연합훈련 참가 28일까지 한국형 구축함, F-22전투기 등 참여

북한의 천안함 공격에 대응한 대규모 한.미 연합훈련이 나흘간 일정으로 25일 시작됐다.

한미연합사령부의 한 관계자는 "부산항에 정박한 미 항공모함 조지 워싱턴호(9만7천t급)를 비롯한 한.미 해군 함정 수척이 오늘 오전 7시께 부산항을 출항해 동해로 이동하고 있다"고 밝혔다.

'불굴의 의지'라는 훈련명칭으로 동해 전역에서 실시되는 이번 훈련에는 조지 워싱턴호와 아시아 최대수송함인 독도함(1만4천t급), 3천200t급 한국형 구축함(KDX-Ⅰ), 4천500t급 구축함(KDX-Ⅱ)인 문무대왕함 및 최영함, 1천800t급 잠수함, 해양 탐사선 등 양국 함정(잠수함 포함) 20여척이 참가했다.

한반도에서 처음으로 임무를 수행하는 F-22 전투기 4대를 비롯한 F/A-18E/F(슈퍼호넷) 및 F/A-18A/C(호넷) 전폭기, 조기경보기 E-2C(호크아이 2000)와 한국군 F-15K, KF-16 전투기, 대잠 초계기(P3-C), 대잠 헬기(링스)를 포함한 200여대의 항공기도 훈련에 참여한다.

또 양국 육군, 해군, 공군, 해병대 병력 8천여명도 훈련에 참가할 계획이다

특히 27일에는 천안함 피격과 같은 사건의 재발을 막기 위해 실전과 유사한 대함사격 훈련도 진행된다.

일본측의 요청에 따라 일본 해상자위대 소속 대령 등 장교 4명이 조지 워싱턴호에 탑승해 훈련을 참관할 계획이다.