Pentagon to send carrier to Yellow sea for joint drills with South Korea

[News_Editor]

Pentagon to send carrier to Yellow sea for joint drills with South Korea

2010-11-10 17:25:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON (BNO NEWS) -- The United States has not change its plans to send a carrier to the Yellow Sea for joint naval drills with South Korea, despite China's objections, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

"The only thing I'd answer is those are international waters and they aren't owned by China," Adm. Mullen said in Melbourne, Australia. "They aren't owned by Korea. They're international waters in which we have and many other countries have sailed forever. My expectation is we'll continue to do that."

Mullen was responding to the question if Washington will send the USS George Washington to the Yellow Sea for the joint drills, which have not yet been rescheduled after being delayed ahead of the summit of leaders of 20 leading economies in Seoul.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates the U.S. "believe and have long believed in the importance of freedom of navigation and we intend to abide by international law, but we will assert freedom of navigation, as we have for a long time."

The drills were planned as part of a series of joint exercises in response to the sinking of a South Korean warship by North Korea that killed 46 sailors in March. Pyongyang denies responsibility.

China has repeatedly raised objections to the South Korean-U.S. drills in waters off its shores, and has conducted a series of high-profile naval and air drills in the South China and East China seas in apparent response.

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