U.S. in joint military exercises
PANMUNJOM, Korea – Standing at the spot that divides North and South Korea, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged North Korea today to turn away from the isolation that has left its people suffering.
Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates paid a rare visit to the heavily fortified border dividing the two Koreas – a symbolic trip four months after the sinking of a South Korean warship in March blamed on the North.
On Tuesday, the United States and South Korea announced joint major military exercises for next week, a show of force aimed at North Korea.
The naval and air exercises, which will take place in the Sea of Japan and include the aircraft carrier George Washington, were announced in a statement by Gates and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young after a meeting in Seoul.
“These defensive, combined exercises are designed to send a clear message to North Korea that its aggressive behavior must stop, and that we are committed together to enhancing our defensive capabilities,” the statement said.
The exercises, which officials said would begin Sunday, have been in the works since the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan, which killed 47 South Korean sailors and raised tensions on the Korean peninsula. A South Korean-led investigation concluded that the vessel was struck by a North Korean torpedo, though Pyongyang has denied involvement.
Adm. Robert F. Willard, head of U.S. Pacific Command, emphasized that the drills were the first in a series of exercises set for the coming months in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea, in addition to large-scale maneuvers involving U.S. and South Korean ground forces. “One of our goals is to deter North Korea from further provocations,” Willard told reporters.
Sixty years after the start of the Korean War, the peninsula remains divided in a state of war because the conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Hundreds of thousands of troops stand ready on both sides of the 3-mile-deep DMZ.
“Although it may be a thin line, these two places are worlds apart,” Clinton said as North Korean soldiers stood just several feet away and civilians on the North Korean side of the DMZ watched the delegation through binoculars.
She praised longtime ally South Korea for making “extraordinary progress” in the years since the Korean War, economically and politically. “By contrast, the North has not only stagnated in isolation, but the people of the North have suffered for so many years.”