As tensions escalate, South Korea’s JoongAng Daily reported on Wednesday that Pyongyang had conducted unusually extensive winter air drills, despite severe fuel shortages. The number of North Korean military exercises in December increased 150 percent compared to the same period in 2009. A military source told the newspaper: “It shows that the North Korean military has been very tense after the attack on Yeonpyong Island.”
North Korea has admitted this week that five of its soldiers were killed during the artillery exchange with South Korea on November 23. Two South Korean marines and two civilians on Yeonpyong Island were also killed.
The US has further stoked tensions by dispatching at least one additional aircraft carrier group to the region. CNN reported on December 25 that the USS Carl Vinson had arrived in Guam. The carrier is to replace the USS George Washington which has over the past month conducted major exercises with the South Korean and Japanese navies. The USS Ronald Reagan is also on its way to an unspecified location in the Western Pacific and due to arrive by about January 20. The USS George Washington will remain in the region—for maintenance at Yokohama in Japan.
The presence of potentially three US aircraft carrier groups has provoked concern in Chinese military circles. Major General Luo Yuan, a prominent Chinese military analyst, told the China Daily on Monday that the naval build up was “a signal” that the US was “preparing for war” against North Korea. Luo warned that Washington might be trying to provoke North Korea into a military confrontation, “then the US can perform a surgical strike on the DPRK.”
Another military analyst, Liang Yongchun, told China National Radio that the three carrier groups, plus the US forces in South Korea and Japan, would have 400 warplanes in East Asia, enough to carry out large-scale air strikes on North Korea’s nuclear and military facilities.
Chinese vice foreign minister Cheng Guoping travelled to Moscow and held talks with his counterpart Alexei Borodavkin on Tuesday. According to the Xinhua News Agency, they issued a joint statement warning that the outbreak of a military conflict between the Koreas could trigger “a wider war”. Amid these tensions Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to visit the US on January 19.
However, the Obama administration has shown no sign of backing away from the intense political and military pressure it is applying to North Korea. The stand-off on the Peninsula is being exploited by the US to strengthen its military relations with South Korea and Japan and undermine Chinese influence in East Asia as part of broader American efforts to isolate China throughout the region.
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