US and South Korean naval forces plan to stage four days of war games from Sunday off the tense Korean peninsula, days after the North launched a deadly artillery strike against the South.

Leading the show of firepower in the Yellow Sea will be nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington and its battle group, to be joined by a flotilla of South Korean destroyers and other warships.

The George Washington left its port in Japan Wednesday, a day after North Korea stunned the world by launching a barrage of shells and rockets at a South Korean border island, killing two marines and two civilians.

China — which has refrained from criticising its traditional communist ally Pyongyang over the attack on the frontline island — has however put the United States on notice that it opposes the naval drill.

The Pentagon says the manoeuvre in international waters will be "defensive in nature", follows similar drills in the past, was planned months before North Korea's attack, and "is not directed at China".

The George Washington strike group conducted similar operations in October 2009 west of the Korean peninsula.

But Washington also says that its display of naval firepower will act as a "deterrent" to the volatile regime of Kim Jong-Il, which has kept the region on edge for years with its nuclear and long-range missile tests.

Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed South Korean military source as saying: "The intensity of the exercise will be greater than had been planned. Participating forces will carry out firing and bombing drills."

Pyongyang claims it acted in retaliation Tuesday to a South Korean firing drill in what it regards as its own waters and has warned that the new war games mean the peninsula "is inching closer to the brink of war".

The centrepiece of the US Navy strike force is the 97,000-ton George Washington, which can carry about 75 aircraft on its 1.8 hectare (4.5 acre) flight deck and has a crew of 5,500 service personnel.

The George Washington and nine surface combatant ships together form the core of the Seventh Fleet, the US Navy's largest and only permanently forward deployed carrier strike group, based in Yokosuka near Tokyo.

Also taking part in the drill will be an embarked carrier air wing and vessels the USS Cowpens, Lassen, Stethem and Fitzgerald.

South Korea will deploy destroyers, patrol vessels, frigates, support ships and anti-submarine aircraft, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said without giving details of the numbers of ships or personnel, the Korea Times reported.

The US Forces Korea statement also said: "US and allied operations are built on an already strong foundation of cooperation and this exercise is intended to further enhance interoperability."

S.Korean veterans' rally vows vengeance against North
Seoul (AFP) Nov 27, 2010 –

About 1,000 South Korean military veterans rallied Saturday, burning North Korea's national flag and portraits of its leaders and vowing revenge for the regime's shelling of a frontline island.

The protest in central Seoul came hours after the nation laid to rest two marines killed in the artillery strike on Yeonpyeong island Tuesday, which also killed two civilians and sparked global outrage and alarm.

"Condemn the North's atrocity" and "Let's unite and avenge," chanted the mostly elderly protesters, wearing the red caps and dark green camouflage uniforms of the Marine Corps, of which they were retired servicemen.

They burned a portrait of the hardline regime's leader Kim Jong-Il and his son, 27-year-old heir apparent Kim Jong-Un.

One torched the North Korean national flag, then trampled its charred remains with his military boots.

Retired marine Lee Kwang-Sun said that the veterans were prepared to return to active duty if their nation called on them, telling AFP: "We are ready to rush to the frontline if we are asked to do so."

The two marines killed Tuesday, Sergeant Suh Jung-Woo, 22, and Private Moon Kwang-Wook, 20, were buried at a national cemetery in central Daejeon City following a marine funeral Saturday that was televised nationwide.

North Korea has said its attack — the first shelling of civilians since the 1950-53 Korean War — was retaliation after South Korea allegedly fired shells into what the North considers its own coastal waters during a drill.

"We are outraged by the attack. We must react strongly so that Kim Jong-Il will not dare to do something like this again," said veteran Kim Haeng-Bo.

Philippines stops deploying workers to South Korea
Manila (AFP) Nov 27, 2010 –

The Philippines on Saturday ordered a temporary stop to the deployment of Filipino workers to South Korea amid rising tensions following an artillery strike by North Korea.

President Benigno Aquino told top labour officials and diplomats to assess the security situation immediately after Tuesday's attack on Yeonpyeong island in the Yellow Sea.

"The decision to hold the deployment of workers was a result of the government team's decision, upon the president's instructions, to assess the situation continually and take the corresponding action," deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte told reporters.

Valte said there are currently 46,000 Filipinos in South Korea, many of them working as labourers or in factories.

Two marines and two civilians were killed in the North Korean attack, and Seoul's military brass has vowed to avenge their deaths.

The Philippine foreign department said the attack was a "clear and flagrant violation of international law" and praised Seoul for exercising restraint.

"The Philippines calls for an end to provocative actions that raise tensions and adversely affect peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and in the Asia Pacific region," it said.

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