US military alert level raised in Seoul, 24 stealth fighters jets ready
The US military has raised its alert level for its South Korean troops and has placed 24 stealth fighter jets within easy reach of the Korean Peninsula, according to US military sources.
The sources deny that such actions were taken as a reaction to North Korea's threat of confrontation and an all-out-war, but confirm that the stealth fighter jets may participate in an upcoming joint anti-submarine exercise between US and South Korean military personnel.
The exercise will be conducted close to or in the disputed maritime borders between South and North Korea and may very well be viewed by Pyongyang as an intimidation and threat. Kim Jong-Il, through his spokesperson, has stated on several occasions that ant threat, sanction or punishment, resulting from the march 26 incident during which a South Korean warship was sunk, will be met with outright war.
North Korea has closed its border entry gate with South Korea, leaving hundreds of South Koreans workers stranded on the wrong side of the fence. Both North and South Korea own and operate a manufacturing plant close to the border which employs daily workers from South Korea, who's only entry and exit point has now been temporarily been closed.
A trilateral meeting between South Korea, China and Japan will start on the South Korean Island of Jeju today with the hope to ease the tension and find a solution to a possible escalation on the peninsula.
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