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.
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.
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”.
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