Text Fwd: War Drill_ ROK-U. S. joint landing exercise in Pohang on Nov. 4, 2009

* Makiko Sato (seamesky@sand.ocn.ne.jp) thankfully translated the site below in Japanese. Click here.

Image source/caption: LIFE
"U.S. and South Korean Marines Operate Landing Exercise
POHANG, SOUTH KOREA - NOVEMBER 04: U.S. amphibious assault vehicles partcipate the U.S. and South Korean Marines Joint Landing Exercise at Pohang seashore on November 4, 2009 in Pohang, South Korea. South Korean marines conducted a joint landing operation with U.S. marines to prepare for possible aggression by North Korea, which the South remains technically at war with since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images, Nov 04, 2009
For more LIFE pictures of Pohang Joint Landing Exercise, 2009, see here."

Image Source: NASA Earth Observatory, image taken on June 12, 2009 (See the caption in the original site)

Image source: DDAP4
"Pohang's road arteries and shipping port made it a place of strategic significance during the Korean War. An unopposed landing of UN forces at Pohang on July 18, 1950 was the first large-scale amphibious operation since World War II, and the region around Pohang saw fierce clashes between South Korea's 3rd Infantry Division and North Korea's 5th Infantry Division during August-September 1950." (source: Wikipedia: Pohang)

Image source: Pohang City map

Image source: Pictures from the World-wide Anti War Protests
The place and date of the picture is Pohang, March 20, 2003.

* Below is unofficial translation of Tongil News

Korea-United States Joint Landing Exercise around the Area of Pohang on Nov. 4, 2009:
As a part of Patriot Exercise… About 10,000 Mobilized and Processed in Large Size
Nov. 3, 2009 (Tues.)
by the reporter, Jung Myung-Jin (mjjung@tongilnews.com)


It has been announced that the joint landing exercise between the ROK (Republic of Korea)-U. S., in the division level, as part of the patriot exercise would be processed in Pohang, Gyungbuk on Nov. 4.

The related person to the Joint Force of the ROK revealed, saying, “There is a ROK-U. S. Joint landing exercise tomorrow” and “The size is similar to that of last year.”

The Marine related person, confirming that “A ROK-U. S. Joint landing exercise is planned between the patriot exercise period (Oct. 29 to Nov. 6)’, said that ‘It is not officially publicized because the press release on this exercise was not distributed, neither”

However, the related person to the Combined Forces Command said, “Since the training site is the public site, it is difficult to process it unofficially”. He added that, “ Regarding the press support on this exercise, the ROK military not the CFC is responsible for it.”

Last year, the joint forces of the ROK-U.S. have processed the ROK-U.S. Joint landing exercise mobilizing about 8,000 forces around the area of Pohang, Gyungbuk during the patriot exercise period, as well. At the time, including the 31st U.S. marine expeditionary force [from Okinawa], 27 naval vessels, 30 airplanes such as the expeditionary/strike helicopters, 70 landing assault armor vehicles were employed.

The Combined Forces Command has been open with this exercise to the press, while first expanding the size to the division level from the brigade level that was size of the operation before.

Otherwise, the Committee for the Peace and Unification of the Father Nation, North Korea has denounced the division level ROK-U.S. Joint landing exercise last year, through the Secretary Bureau press release, saying that “ This is the first time that [the joint forces of the ROK-U. S.] do the large size joint landing exercise, mobilizing the division level force and “ It is the criminal act unforgivable that draws the situation of the Korean peninsula toward the military conflict and nuclear war phase.”


* Related blog

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/11/text-fwd-north-korea-denounces-joint.html
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Text Fwd: North Korea, Denounces the Joint War Drill in Pohang