WORLD WAR 3: AMERICAN ATTACK HELICOPTERS MOBILISED IN SEOUL AS NORTH KOREA TENSIONS SOAR
WORLD WAR 3: AMERICAN
ATTACK HELICOPTERS MOBILISED IN SEOUL AS NORTH KOREA TENSIONS SOAR
AMERICAN heavy attack helicopters are
being mobilised to reinforce South Korean troops amid concerns of an amphibious
invasion by North Korean special forces.
The south’s Maritime Counter Special
Operations (MCSOF) unit is being boosted by the addition of nearly 50 Apache
choppers to counter a possible attack by Kim Jong-un's regime from the sea.
The AH-64D Apaches - the same model
of helicopter piloted by Prince Harry - have joined a MCSOF exercise already
underway in the Yellow Sea, to the west of the Korean Peninsula.
The announcement comes as North
Korean special forces have been spotted near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the
disputed maritime border between the rouge state and South Korea.
The NLL has been the site of a series
of aggressive acts by the north, the most recent of which was in 2010 when
Kim’s navy was accused of sinking a South Korean warship and killing 46 sailors.
GETTY
North Korea latest: US Apaches are
being deployed to counter Kim Jong-un's amphibious special forces
yongyang denied any involvement, but
an international investigation concluded a torpedo fired by a North Korean
submarine was responsible.
Later the same year, North Korean
forces decimated the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong with 170 artillery
shells, killing four civilians and injuring 19.
The United States has conducted a
series of naval drills with its South Korean allies in recent months, and the
Yonhap News Agency reports the choppers from the US 2nd Infantry Division will
be a regular fixture in future exercises.
And today, pictures of massive USS
Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier alongside South Korea naval vessels emerged in a
show of force against the north.
EPA
The USS Ronald Reagan is carrying out
drills with South Korean naval forces.
The huge super-carrier can carry 90
aircraft and is crewed by 3,200 sailors.
Dictator Kim says the joint exercises
are preparation for an invasion of the north, but Western forces claim they are
merely responding to threats from the nuclear-armed hermit state.
The US 7th Fleet is currently
deployed across bases in East Asia, including Japan and the US territory of
Guam.
The island is well within range of
war-crazed Kim’s long-range weapons, and he has previously threatened it with
“enveloping fire”.
The dictator made the threat in
response to President Donald Trump’s warning he would destroy North Korea with
“fire and fury like the world has never seen”.
