South Korea, Japan and the United States began naval exercises near the Korean peninsula on Monday to deal with “increasing underwater threats” from Pyongyang.
The drills, which include anti-submarine and search-and-rescue operations with a US aircraft carrier, are taking place today and Tuesday in waters south of Jeju Island, off the southwest coast of South Korea.
In addition to the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, two American destroyers (USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Decatur), three South Koreans (ROKS Yulgok YiYi, ROKS Choe Yeong and ROKS Daejoyeong) and one Japanese (JS Umigiri).
The exercises “were organized to enhance the response capabilities of the Republic of Korea [nome oficial do Sul]United States and Japan against North Korea’s increasingly advanced submarine threats, including submarine ballistic missiles [SLBM]”, according to a statement from the South Korean Defense Ministry.
These maneuvers come shortly after Pyongyang announced two tests of a nuclear submarine ‘drone’ that supposedly can generate radioactive tsunamis to hit fleets and ports.
The ‘drone’ or guided torpedo, called Haeil-1, is theoretically equipped with a tactical warhead called Hwasan-31 that the regime announced last week in a message stressing the reinforcement of the short-range atomic arsenal for its possible use. in and around the Korean peninsula.
On Sunday, North Korea condemned, in an editorial published by the official KCNA news agency, the spring military exercises that the allies have been carrying out in the south of the peninsula, and accused Seoul and Washington of lying when describing these exercises as “routines”. and defensive in nature.
Seoul, Tokyo and Washington already held naval exercises in September last year.
Source: TSF
