US, South Korea drill starts amid tension

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136139§ionid=351020405


The United States and South Korea have kicked off a large-scale joint military exercise in the Sea of Japan, officials say.

The US and South Korea on Sunday launched the major naval exercise that would involve about 20 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, and some 200 fixed-wing aircraft.

Some 8,000 service personnel from the two allies are take part in the show of force.

"The USS George Washington left the southern port of Busan around 7:00am Sunday (2200 GMT Saturday). It's sailing towards the Sea of Japan (East Sea) for the exercise," AFP quoted a US military spokesman as saying.

Officials at Seoul's defense ministry said other navy ships had also left from Busan and the nearby port of Jinhae for the drill, with some from the US 7th Fleet set to join them off the peninsula's east coast.

South Korea's Defense Ministry announced that the drill has been relocated from the sensitive Yellow Sea in response to China's protests.

Tensions have intensified on the Korean peninsula since the sinking of a South Korean warship earlier in March.

Seoul has blamed a North Korean torpedo for the shipwreck, which left 46 sailors dead.

The North, however, has rejected the claim as "smear campaign," insisting that its navy did not torpedo the South Korean ship.

Earlier on Thursday, North Korea warned against US plans to hold the joint naval exercise with South Korea, saying the military drill poses a threat to regional security.

The joint drill follows new US sanctions on North Korea. On Wednesday, Washington imposed new sanctions on Pyongyang and warned of serious consequences in case of a North Korean attack on the South.

North Korea has threatened to use what it describes as a powerful nuclear deterrence in response to the US-South Korea joint naval maneuver.

Pyongyang says it would begin a "sacred war" against the United States and South Korea at any time necessary