Asia-Pacific

S. Korea, US to begin naval drills on Sunday

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-31 11:46

SEOUL - South Korea and the United States are planning to hold joint anti-submarine drills off the west coast of the Korean peninsula starting Sunday, local media reported Tuesday.

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The five-day joint exercises will likely keep a relatively low-profile this time without participation of aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines, Seoul's semi-official Yonhap News Agency said, quoting an unidentified military source.

The reported decision to scale down the drills comes after China and the DPRK protested the planned combined military maneuvers by Seoul and Washington, criticizing them for raising regional tension.

The upcoming drills will be held in waters near a tense maritime border between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea, where a South Korean warship sank in March due to a suspected torpedo attack by Pyongyang. They will be focused mainly on foiling infiltration bids of DPRK submarines, the source told Yonhap.

In July, Seoul and Washington staged massive four-day joint exercises in waters east of the divided peninsula in response to the alleged attack, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. Pyongyang denies its involvement in the incident.