US warship to join drills in South Korea as North fires missiles

Record ID: 1717222

  • Title: US warship to join drills in South Korea as North fires missiles
  • Date: 23rd March 2023
  • Summary: BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA (MARCH 23, 2023) (REUTERS) U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA'S MILITARY OFFICIALS GATHERING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE AT USS (UNITED STATES SHIP) MAKIN ISLAND EMBLEM OF USS MAKIN ISLAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDING OFFICER OF USS MAKIN ISLAND, CAPTAIN TONY CHAVEZ, SAYING: “It makes it even more important that we're here training to ensure the defence of the Republic of Korea and our commitment to that is ironclad to this point. And we'll continue to train to build that cooperative effort to defend the Republic of Korea.” U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA'S MILITARY OFFICIALS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDING OFFICER OF USS MAKIN ISLAND, CAPTAIN TONY CHAVEZ, SAYING: “Yeah, I understand that there was some (North Korea’s) missile launches and these are escalatory.” U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA'S MILITARY OFFICIALS STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDING OFFICER OF USS MAKIN ISLAND, CAPTAIN TONY CHAVEZ, SAYING: "It does not matter where that threat is coming from. We are ensuring that we are able to amass forces to maintain maritime and air superiority and defend northeast Asia or all of Indo-Pacific region.” EMBLEM OF USS MAKIN ISLAND (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMANDING OFFICER OF USS MAKIN ISLAND, CAPTAIN TONY CHAVEZ, SAYING: “The marine expeditionary unit is made up of an air combat element and that's made up of ten F-35 Bravos, ten MV-22s as a complement onboard the ship. And we also carry three navy MH-60 Sierras for search and rescue and surface warfare.” VARIOUS OF CHAVEZ SHAKING HANDS WITH SOUTH KOREAN NAVY OFFICIAL VARIOUS OF U.S. AND SOUTH KOREAN OFFICIALS POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS
  • Embargoed: 6th April 2023 05:39
  • Keywords: Busan North Korea South Korea Ssangyong U.S. US USS Makin Island United States amphibious assault ship amphibious landing exercise joint drills military exercise
  • Location: BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA
  • City: BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001956723032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:The United States' amphibious assault ship Makin Island is part of the U.S.' plan to defend ally South Korea and the Indo-Pacific region at large, said its commanding officer Tony Chavez at a news conference on Thursday (March 23), amid escalating tensions after North Korea’s missile launches.
    The warship arrived at a naval base in the southeastern port city of Busan on Wednesday (March 22) to join large scale amphibious drills which kicked off on Monday (March 20) near Pohang on South Korea's east coast for a two-week run until April 3.
    Around 12,000 navy and marine personnel from the two countries are expected to take part in the exercises featuring some 30 warships, 70 aircraft and 50 assault amphibious vehicles, the South Korean military said.
    Just hours before the ship docked, North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off its east coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, in apparent protest of ongoing drills by the U.S. and South Korea.
    (Production: Daewoung Kim, Minwoo Park)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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