SOUTH KOREA: US/SOUTH KOREA JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES

(19 Jul 1999) English/Nat Marines from the United States and South Korea carried out a joint exercise on Sunday designed to promote co-operation between the forces of the two countries. Similar exercises are carried out twice a year, but Sunday's manoeuvres were the first to have an offensive rather than a defensive focus. The region is politically sensitive for the United States since South Korea's neighbour, North Korea is one of the world's few remaining Communist states. The United States fought a war in the peninsula in the early fifties and has maintained a presence there since the fighting stopped in 1953. The joint exercise took place in the Korea East Sea near the city of Pohang, beginning early on Sunday morning. The U-S-S Germantown, normally stationed in Japan, was the main American vessel in the exercise. The ship was backed up by other military vehicles from both sides. SOUNDBITE: (English) " The concept of the operation, was a joint operation with the Korean Marine Corps, the Korean Navy, and the U-S Marine Corps and the U-S Navy and it's an operation to develop stronger relationships with both services. There is approximately 1500 marines and sailors that were involved in this operation, and so far it's been a very successful operation." SUPERCAPTION: Lieutenant Bechtel, Second Battalion, Third Marine Regiment Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...