US-South Korea begin 3-day joint naval drill

News February 5, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

South Korea and the United States have launched a three-day joint naval drill amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The military exercise, which involves a US nuclear-powered submarine, started on Thursday.

The USS Olympia (SSN-717) arrived in the southern port city of Jinhae, 410 kilometers south of the capital, Seoul, on Friday.

The Los Angeles-class submarine, carrying some 120 sailors, joined South Korean naval vessels in an exercise focused on detecting enemy submarines and surface vessels in waters near the Korean Peninsula.

The 7,000-ton submarine is equipped with Tomahawk land attack missiles.

Lt. Arlo Abrahamson, spokesman for the US Navy in South Korea, said the drill aims “to increase interoperability, strengthen cooperation, and enhance the readiness of our navies.”

“These exercises are routine and regularly scheduled,” he added.

Nearly 30,000 US troops, who are stationed in South Korea, carry out a series of joint military drills with the Korean forces every year.

North Korea says the military exercise is a practice for invasion, and that Pyongyang will take every measure to demonstrate its might as long as threats from the US persist.

The planned drill comes at a time when North Korea has denounced these maneuvers as a provocative “rehearsal for invasion,” calling for them to be called off to avoid military tensions between South and North Korea and improve bilateral relations.

South Korea has rejected the calls by its northern neighbor, insisting that the joint military drills would go ahead as planned, though reportedly on a smaller scale.

South Korea and the United States say that the military exercises are “defensive” in nature.

YH/NN/HMV