US aircraft carrier to join drills with S. Korea

The USS Ronald Reagan is to participate in drills with South Korea
© AFP/NVNS-HO/File

SEOUL (AFP) – A US aircraft carrier is to take part in joint US-South Korean war games, American military officials said Wednesday, amid threats by Pyongyang, which has labelled the drill a rehearsal for invasion.

The nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group will “participate in Foal Eagle, an annual field-training exercise designed to enhance combat readiness” of the two allies, the US 7th Fleet said in a statement.

The US and South Korea have said the exercises are defensive in nature while training their forces “to respond to any provocation”.

The carrier strike group, commanded by Rear Admiral Robert Girrier, is comprised of the aircraft carrier, a guided missile cruiser and a destroyer squadron.

“We continue to seek opportunities to train and build partnerships with our allies,” Girrier was quoted as saying in the statement.” “We are looking forward to every opportunity to enhance our commitment to the region,” he said.

South Korean and US forces are in the midst of the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises, their first regularly scheduled drills since North Korea’s deadly artillery attack on a southern island in November that killed four people.

A spokesman for US Forces Korea said he had no information on whether the carrier strike group would enter the Yellow Sea, which China considers “sensitive waters.”

Another US aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, took part in a joint drill with the South in waters off the Korean Peninsula as a show of force against the North following the shelling on Yeonpyeong island.

The annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drills, which began on February 28, involve 12,300 US troops and some 200,000 South Korean service members including reservists.

The 11-day Key Resolve drill focuses on computer-based simulations while the Foal Eagle exercise involves field training and will continue until April 30.

Seoul has also accused its neighbour of torpedoing a warship near the disputed Yellow Sea border in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives. North Korea has denied the charge.

North Korea reacted to the start of the manoeuvres by threatening to turn Seoul into a “sea of flames” in case of any provocation. It routinely denounces the annual drills as a rehearsal for invasion.