WASHINGTON — On the night a torpedo-armed North Korean submarine allegedly sank a South Korean patrol ship, the U.S. and South Korea were engaged in joint anti-submarine warfare exercises just 75 miles away, military officials told The Associated Press.
The sinking of the Cheonan was the worst South Korean military disaster since the 1950-53 Korean War. It showed that even impoverished nations such as North Korea can inflict heavy casualties on far better equipped and trained forces, including those backed by U.S. military might.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said plans for more joint U.S.-South Korea anti-submarine exercises, announced after Cheonan went down, are on hold awaiting U.N. action on the event.
That is in part, Gates said Friday while in Asia, because of concerns about instigating another act by North Korea.
Two months after the sinking, U.S. officials for the first time disclosed details of the joint naval exercise held the same day as the attack on the Cheonan. Forty-six South Korean sailors died on the warship, which was not involved in the exercise. Military officials said the drill could not have detected the North Korean sub.
What surprised experts was that a 130-ton minisub, without warning, could bring down a warship nine or 10 times its size.
A South Korean-led investigation into the sinking concluded last month that the evidence pointed to the North. The North has denied involvement.
