Naval Exercises:Allies Send Stern Message

Since Sunday,naval exercises have been occurring off the South Korean coast,conducted by the U.S. and its South Korean ally.The war games are a clear warning to North Korea that further aggression will not be tolerated.On 26 March,a North Korean submarine attacked and sank the South Korean warship Cheonan with a torpedo,killing 46 South Korean sailors.It was the worst incident since the Korean War was paused in 1953.The war was never formally ended.A group of U.S. sailors bowed their heads in silence as they visited the wreckage of the Cheonan at a naval headquarters south of Seoul.
In response to the deadly attack,the U.S. dispatched the USS George Washington(CVN 73),a nuclear aircraft carrier,from its home port in Yokosuka,Japan,along with its Carrier Strike Group,which is a flotilla of smaller warships plus a nuclear submarine.Included in the CSG were three Arleigh Burke class destroyers.South Korea sent its Landing Platform Helicopter ship Dokdo.The U.S. Air Force contributed F-22 Raptor stealth fighters,their first participation in such an exercise.In total,200 aircraft,20 warships and 8,000 troops took part in the show of force.North Korea bitterly criticized the display,but so far has taken no concrete action against it.
The war games took place mainly off the east coast of South Korea.Plans to exercise in the Yellow Sea as well,off the west coast and closer to China,were protested by Beijing,and have possibly been scaled back in consequence.It is unclear how long the activity will last,or how many exercises will be staged in which locations.
Occasional outbreaks of hostility have occurred since 1953 along the Demilitarized Zone which separates the two Koreas.Some American troops have been killed in them.There have also been clashes at sea between the two Koreas.The eccentric Communist Pyongyang regime has alternately lashed out at democratic Seoul and sought better relations with it.Pyongyang is believed to possess nuclear weapons,but has so far failed to develop an effective delivery system.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War,in which more than 33,000 U.S. troops were killed as,together with other UN forces,they pushed the North Korean invaders back north of the DMZ.Many other Americans remain missing in action.North Korea is a highly militarized state,devoting almost all its resources to combat preparations.