(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Last week, South Korean and American troops launched their largest amphibious attack drills in years near Pohang on the eastern coast of South Korea, Reuters reported.
The amphibious attack drills featured around 12,000 sailors and Marines from both countries, as well as 70 aircraft, 30 warships, and 50 amphibious assault vehicles. The USS Makin Island, an amphibious assault ship, also took part in the exercises.
In an apparent protest over the joint exercises, just hours before the amphibious attack drill began, North Korea fired four cruise missiles off its east coast, South Korean officials reported.
US Navy Captain Tony Chavez, the commanding officer of the USS Makin Island, said the joint amphibious drills are designed to build “muscle memory” so the US and South Korean troops can respond to a crisis when needed. He told reporters aboard the ship that the exercises ensure that the two countries can “amass forces” that can maintain “maritime and air superiority” in defense of the Indo-Pacific region.
The USS Makin Island carries dozens of armored vehicles as well as ten F-35 stealth fighters. The welldeck of the ship can be flooded to provide access to the sea, allowing it to launch and recover amphibious vehicles and landing craft, according to the Pentagon.
The US/South Korean regular springtime exercises, Freedom Shield 23, concluded last Thursday after 11 days. The other field training exercises are continuing under the name Warrior Shield.
Last Friday, North Korea announced that it had tested its Haeil nuclear-capable underwater attack drone designed to launch a “radioactive tsunami” when detonated underwater, NBC News reported.
According to the North Korean state-run news agency KCNA, in the test, the drone traveled underwater for nearly 60 hours at depths of 262 to 492 feet before detonating a test warhead at a target.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, who oversaw the test, said he wanted to “plunge” the US and South Korea “into despair.”
This week, CNN presented video footage of the joint US/South Korean amphibious assault drills.
