US defense chief says Washington and Seoul consider expanding joint military exercises
By Anne Gearan, APThursday, June 3, 2010
Gates: US, SKorea consider more joint exercises
SINGAPORE — The United States and South Korea are contemplating additional joint military exercises in response to the sinking of a South Korean Navy ship, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.
Gates did not confirm reports of plans to send an aircraft carrier — the USS George Washington — to the waters off the Korean peninsula. That show of force is among the responses military and defense officials have told The Associated Press are possible.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell denied any plan to send a carrier is imminent.
“No carriers are going anywhere near the Korean peninsula anytime soon,” He said. “No decisions of that sort have been taken yet.”
Gates said various scenarios are under consideration, including stepped-up anti-submarine exercises with the South.
The U.S. and South Korea blame a North Korean submarine for the sinking that killed more than 40 sailors in March.
Gates is in Singapore for security talks with Asian powers. He told reporters aboard his plane that North Korea “is more unpredictable than usual.”
