"Battle of nerves" keeps upgrading in Korean Peninsula

^{_{"Battle of nerves" keeps upgrading in Korean Peninsula}}

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2010-12-8 14:05


AFP:  US, S.Korea military chiefs discuss N.Korea threat


US and South Korean military chiefs started talks Wednesday on ways to deter further attacks by North Korea after its deadly bombardment of a South Korean island.


Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and his counterpart General Han Min-Koo were also expected to discuss the North's likely motives in shelling the border island, said a spokesman for Seoul's JCS.


They would talk about ways to improve defence cooperation and are likely to discuss more joint exercises off the Korean peninsula, the spokesman told AFP.


The two countries' navies last week staged their biggest-ever joint exercise as a warning to the North, after its November 23 attack killed two civilians and two marines, wrecked homes and threw the region into crisis.


This week the South's military is holding live-fire drills off its coast, ignoring the North's warnings that it could spark a war.


Mullen, in comments to reporters aboard his plane, said the two sides would review planned exercises and discuss appropriate responses to any future attacks by the North.


The US military chief, quoted by The Wall Street Journal, said future exercises must improve preparedness while not fuelling tensions.


"We all need to be mindful of the overall situation as we look at what we would call normal kinds of exercises, or even routine, because normalcy and routine are not what they used to be," Mullen said.



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2010-12-8 14:05


Yonhap: S. Korean, U.S. military chiefs discuss N. Korean provocations


Military chiefs from South Korea and the United States started talks Wednesday on how to deter further provocations by North Korea after its deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island.


Gen. Han Min-koo, chairman of the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and his U.S. counterpart Adm. Mike Mullen, who arrived in Seoul earlier in the day, opened the talks that were also expected to assess the motives behind North Korea's provocations and discuss concerns about future actions by the unpredictable regime, JCS officials said.


Mullen was accompanied by Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, director of the strategic plans and policy section on the U.S. Joint Staff; Kathleen Stephens, the U.S. ambassador to Seoul; and Gen. Walter Sharp, the top U.S. commander in South Korea.


Han and Mullen shook hands without making any remarks before they began their talks.


The two military leaders intend "to discuss ways to improve the Republic of Korea-U.S. defense cooperation," a senior JCS official said on condition of anonymity, adding the two sides are likely to discuss conducting more joint drills off the Korean Peninsula.






AP: The meet of US, S.Korea military chiefs


The South's military was widely criticised for a perceived weak response to last month's attack and the defence minister stepped down.


His successor Kim Kwan-Jin, who will meet Mullen later, has vowed next time to use the South's air power to hit the North's artillery batteries.


The United States stations some 28,500 troops in the country, and assumes command of both countries' militaries in case of war. The South currently has an agreement to consult US forces before using its own jet fighters in combat.


"The two sides are likely (Wednesday) to discuss the issue of approving an air raid when North Korea attacks our territory," a Seoul military source told Yonhap news agency Tuesday.


"Part of our discussion is to keep any actions limited to those that would not escalate, because no one wants this to break out into conflict right now," Mullen said on his plane.


"That said, the South Koreans have every right to defend their country and their people."


The United States is pressing China to use its economic and political influence to restrain its ally North Korea.


But the US and its allies have rejected a Chinese call for emergency talks about the crisis among envoys to six-party nuclear disarmament talks, including the North.


Mullen said he believed China was a "big part of the solution-set here." He said because Beijing's economy is dependent on stability, he hoped it would pressure Pyongyang to change its behaviour.