S. Korea to hold joint drill with US
Source: Agencies |
July 7, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea will hold military exercises with the US after any possible UN action against North Korea over its alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, South Korea's military said yesterday.
Seoul has asked the UN Security Council to punish Pyongyang over the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors on board. North Korea denies involvement and has warned any punishment would trigger war.
South Korea "will conduct the drills by linking them to the result" of possible Security Council action against North Korea, said Colonel Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He did not elaborate on the timing and scale of the drills off South Korea's western coast. The exercises were initially set for last month.
Seoul's announcement came days after China held live-fire drills off its eastern coast.
South Korea and the US are pushing for Security Council action against Pyongyang. But the outlook is unclear as veto-wielding permanent members China and Russia have yet to clearly say whether they believe North Korea was responsible for the sinking.
Also, North Korea's Foreign Ministry yesterday repeated Pyongyang's demand that its own investigators be permitted to go to South Korea to verify the result of an international investigation led by South Korea that implicated North Korea. Seoul has rejected North Korea's request.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry also called for working-level military talks with South Korea over the issue.
Last month, the US-led UN Command - which oversees the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War - proposed military talks with North Korea to discuss the warship sinking. The North Korea declined.
Seoul has asked the UN Security Council to punish Pyongyang over the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors on board. North Korea denies involvement and has warned any punishment would trigger war.
South Korea "will conduct the drills by linking them to the result" of possible Security Council action against North Korea, said Colonel Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He did not elaborate on the timing and scale of the drills off South Korea's western coast. The exercises were initially set for last month.
Seoul's announcement came days after China held live-fire drills off its eastern coast.
South Korea and the US are pushing for Security Council action against Pyongyang. But the outlook is unclear as veto-wielding permanent members China and Russia have yet to clearly say whether they believe North Korea was responsible for the sinking.
Also, North Korea's Foreign Ministry yesterday repeated Pyongyang's demand that its own investigators be permitted to go to South Korea to verify the result of an international investigation led by South Korea that implicated North Korea. Seoul has rejected North Korea's request.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry also called for working-level military talks with South Korea over the issue.
Last month, the US-led UN Command - which oversees the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War - proposed military talks with North Korea to discuss the warship sinking. The North Korea declined.
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