US and South Korea send thousands of troops to practice beach assault

North Korea has been building up a ballistic missile arsenal on the stated premise that it needs to deter an attack on it by United States and South Korean forces.

Washington and Seoul have been showing their firepower through an increasing number of exercises, all of which the two allies say are defensive in nature.

But on Wednesday morning, they used thousands of troops and high-end weaponry to practice an amphibious assault, a maneuver offensive in its nature and designed to take territory, not defend it.

The commander of the 2,200 US Marines involved in Exercise Ssang Yong in Pohang on the southern coast of South Korea defends what’s taking place as not provocative.

“I don’t think we’re doing anything different or odd,” said Col. Samuel Meyer, commander of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The exercise put the integrated firepower of US and South Korean forces on full display.

Seoul’s Marines came ashore first in waves of 23-ton amphibious assault vehicles, their tracks leaving foot-deep gashes in the Pohang sands.

As the South Korean Marines moved to a tree line behind the beach, huge US Navy hovercraft, known as LCACs, followed, disgorging eight-wheeled amphibious vehicles with nicknames like “Rooster”, “Cerberus” and “Ghost” stenciled on their sides.

In the skies above were attack helicopters, Osprey transports and F-35B stealth fighters, 10 of which were embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island, lurking 30 miles off shore.

“This is the 70th anniversary of this exercise. It’s not new,” Meyer said, dismissing claims by Pyongyang that Washington and Seoul are being provocative and forcing North Korea to build up its nuclear program as deterrence.

“This is routine. We’re just getting back to the routine, based on what we saw and experienced,” the US Marine colonel said.