South Korean Navy Plans Anti-Submarine Exercise To Counter North

South Korean Navy is planning to conduct an exercise, involving 10 warships, including 7,600-ton Aegis-equipped Sejong the Great destroyer, P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and fighter jets.

The exercise that runs from Friday till Tuesday is aimed at countering possible missile attacks from North Korean submarines in East Sea, Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday.

US Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC) plan to assess the Korean Navy's capabilities when it comes to operations against submarines, warships and aircraft supplied by North Korea.

In 2015, Washington agreed to support Seoul's efforts to bolster its capabilities to detect, trace and attack North Korean submarines in the event of any signs of a conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

Starting in 2017, the two countries' naval forces plan to conduct a joint assessment on the Korean Navy's anti-submarine capabilities.

South Korea is strengthening its fleet forces to respond to North Korea's growing nuclear, missile and submarine-launched ballistic missile threats, earlier in the day, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Um Hyun-seong said in a seminar in Seoul. It halso conducted two underground nuclear tests and fired off some two dozen ballistic missiles.

Such escalations by North is threatening other countries, assuming that the isolated country has almost developed a nuclear-tipped long-range ballistic missile that can even hit mainland of the US.