South Korea is hosting South Korea-U.S. joint training exercises from the 8th to 11th as one of the countermeasures to the Cheonan incident. The U.S. plans to deploy the F-22 Raptor during the event specifically to display its deterrent capacity to North Korea.
During the training, which will be carried out over the West Sea, a nuclear-powered submarine, a destroyer equipped with Aegis and South Korean destroyers and submarines will take part.
The South’s Ministry of National Defense has also reported that anti-submarine training will be conducted later this month, including submarine torpedo firings and the dropping of antisubmarine bombs.
South Korea and the U.S. intend to prevent a second Cheonan incident by training for attacks on submarines, reinforcing their alert posture against submarines, and improving defensive tactics against underwater attacks and the ability to fire at sea.
Experts on the military say that this joint training will place significant pressure on the Kim Jong Il regime as a message to the North, warning that an incident similar to the Cheonan will invite retaliation.
Kim Gyu, a policy researcher with the Retired Generals and Admirals Association and a Major General in the air force reserves, said in a telephone interview with The Daily NK on the 3rd, “The enormous power of the U.S. Navy’s participation in the training against submarine attacks will be a great pressure on North Korea. It is an official warning message to North Korea that if the North attacks again, it will be buried in the sea.”
He added, “Since the North Korean military authorities will be analyzing that joint training closely, it will be hard for the North to attack again.
The training is not just a warning to North Korea, experts point out, but also a functioning part of operational plans.
Lee Choon Kun, a professor from Ewha University explained, “The fact that a U.S. aircraft carrier is taking part in the training is because that area of the West Sea is becoming an operational region.”
Professor Lee emphasized, “The training will show that the U.S. forces are able to use their fighting power against the North Korean land as well as its submarines. In other words, it means that they can mobilize their military for a North Korean emergency as well as for its provocations.
The U.S. is planning to dispatch 24 F-22 Raptors from Okinawa and Guam.
Experts explain that utilizing the F-22 is more effective than the joint training in pressing Kim Jong Il as an individual.
Immediately before the February 13 Agreement was passed in 2007, North Korea asked the U.S. to defer the forward deployment training of F-22 aircraft, but the U.S. did not accept it. Even during the Six-Party Talks, North Korea requested the suspension of F-22 training.
Professor Lee said, “Deployment of the F-22 in Okinawa is a threat to Kim Jong Il as an individual as well as to the North’s military. The F-22 is a fighter, which has the ability to bomb Kim Jong Il’s special villas, so it will be a great psychological pressure on him.”
Kim added, “The F-22 has the capacity to make Kim Jong Il sleep uncomfortably in his bed.”
