Text Fwd: S. Korea, U.S. to kick off military drills amid tensions

Yonhap News

SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean and U.S. troops will begin a new round of military drills later this month to improve their ability to deter North Korean aggression amid high tensions following the North's two military attacks last year, officials said Tuesday.

Seoul and Washington have informed Pyongyang of their plan to hold the annual "Key Resolve and Foal Eagle" exercises from Feb. 28-March 10, the allies' Combined Forces Command (CFC) said in a statement.

"We are exercising alliance actions to a number of realistic scenarios beyond defeating a conventional attack," said Gen. Walter Sharp, the CFC commander and head of some 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

"Through these scenarios, we will exercise alliance crisis management, deterring and rapidly defeating provocations and defensive operations."

The drills in and outside of the Korean Peninsula will draw 12,800 U.S. troops from bases in the South and abroad, said a CFC spokesman Kim Young-kyu. About 200,000 South Korean troops will take part in the 11-day drills, officials here said.

Earlier in the day, a government source in Seoul said a U.S. aircraft carrier would join the upcoming drills.

"This year's Key Resolve exercises will involve a U.S. aircraft carrier to thoroughly check the combined defense capabilities," the source said on the condition of anonymity.

However, the CFC spokesman said he could not confirm whether the drills would involve a U.S. supercarrier.

"At this point, I cannot confirm whether a U.S. aircraft carrier will take part in the drills or not. But, I will let the press know about it if an aircraft carrier joins," Kim said.

The peninsula-wide joint drills come as tensions have been running high on the Korean Peninsula since North Korea's two deadly military attacks last year that killed 50 South Koreans.

A South Korean warship sank last March from a North Korean torpedo attack, killing 46 sailors. In November, the North shelled a South Korean border island in the Yellow Sea, killing four people, including two civilians.

North Korea denies it sank the Cheonan warship and claims its artillery strike on Yeonpyeong Island was in self-defense because it was provoked by the South's live-fire drill near the island.

"The Key Resolve drills will focus on practicing the allies' tactics to prevent North Korean provocations like the torpedo attack of the Cheonan warship and the bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island from occurring again," said Col. Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman at the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

As in previous years, South Korea and the U.S. will also practice their ability to cope with all possible contingencies in North Korea, including a crisis in the North as ailing leader Kim Jong-il is apparently turning over power to his youngest son, the source said.

Officials in Seoul have suggested that the two bold attacks last year may be linked to a move by the North's military to try to establish credentials for the North's successor-in-waiting, Kim Jong-un. The senior Kim, who turns 69 on Wednesday, suffered a stroke in 2008 and the son is believed to be in his late 20s.

"During the Key Resolve and Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises, South Korea and the U.S. have tested their ability to prepare for all possible scenarios, including an all-out war and instability in the North," the source said. The Key Resolve and the Ulchi Freedom Guardian are two annual drills carried out by the allies on the Korean Peninsula.

During the upcoming drills, South Korea and the U.S. also plan to intensify their joint training intended to search and destroy North Korean weapons of mass destruction, military sources here said.

If confirmed, it would be the first time that the allies conduct such training during the Key Resolve exercises.

North Korea's communist regime has lashed out at South Korea and the U.S. for staging their joint military exercises, denouncing them as a rehearsal for a nuclear war against it.

Key Resolve focuses on command-post drills with computer-based simulation, while Foal Eagle deals with field exercises. The Foal Eagle will continue through April 30, officials said.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are based in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

kdh@yna.co.kr

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See also

Korea Times
US supercarrier to join drills with S. Korea in Feb.
02-15-2011 07:54