A U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will be dispatched to the West Sea to conduct a joint training exercise with South Korean naval forces later this month in a show of force against North Korea, which fired 170 artillery shells at a South Korean island Tuesday, killing two marines.
Additionally, two civilians were found dead at a construction site on Yeonpyeong Island, according to officials. They were believed to also have been killed by the North’s shelling.
The bodies of the two people were found during recovery work by a joint investigation team. They were not residents of the island but temporary workers.
“The USS George Washington carrier striker group will join the Republic of Korea naval forces in the waters west of the Korean Peninsula from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 to conduct the next exercise in the series announced at the 2+2 meetings in July,” the U.S.-led Combined Forces Command (CFC) in Seoul said in a statement.
“U.S. and allied operations are built on an already strong foundation of cooperation and this exercise is intended to further enhance interoperability,” said the statement.
Kim Yong-kyu at the CFC public affairs office said the U.S. government notified China of the dispatch of the aircraft carrier group to the peninsula.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said scores of naval ships led by two KDX-II destroyers will participate in the drill.
The allied forces have conducted a series of joint exercises since South Korea’s Cheonan was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine in March. Forty-six sailors were killed in the sinking.
South Korea’s armed forces were placed on their highest alert level after the North bombarded Yeonpyeong and its nearby waters.
The CFC raised its Watch Condition (WATCHCON) to level two, which denoted vital indications of a security threat.
“We call upon North Korea to stop these unprovoked attacks and fully abide by the terms of the Armistice Agreement,” CFC Commander Gen. Walter L. Sharp, who concurrently serves as head of the U.N. Command and U.S. Forces Korea, said in a statement. “These actions are threatening the peace and stability of the entire region.”
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young ordered more K9 self-propelled guns to be deployed with the Marine unit on Yeonpyeong to counter any further North Korean actions. Kim also said that the ministry is considering further strengthening the rules of engagement, which calls for responding to any North Korean provocation with firepower twice as strong as the enemy attack.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the North opened fire from artillery hidden in mountain caves and tunnel emplacements.
Of the 170 shells fired, some 80 rounds hit the island, while 90 others landed offshore.
The island, with 1,700 residents and 400 marines stationed there, is located only 11 kilometers from the North Korean mainland.
The South returned fire with 80 150mm shells from K9 self-propelled guns targeting two coastal artillery bases in the North. North Korean casualties have yet to be reported.
Before the shelling, five MiG-23 fighters were ready to fly missions at a nearby air base in the North, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said in a National Assembly session. The North Korean navy also readied ground-to-ship missiles and ordered its warships to be combat ready, Kim said.
“Taking various situations into account, the attack was believed to have been previously planned in a careful and measured way,” the defense minister said.
The attack was also partly a response to South Korea’s “Hoguk” exercise.
The artillery provocation came on the heels of Pyongyang’s revelations of a new uranium enrichment plant equipped with at least 1,000 centrifuges.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is thought to be ill and trying to ensure the succession of his youngest son, Jong-un, Minister Kim said.
Additionally, the heir apparent may be trying to build a reputation with the country’s hard-line military elite. |
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