(LEAD) USFK reveals last year's special ops training amid tensions caused by N.K. missile tests

(ATTN: UPDATES with USFK spokesperson's comments in 6th para)
By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has revealed it conducted a special commando training late last year, in an apparent move to highlight America's military might following a recent series of North Korean missile launches.

In a Facebook post Monday, the U.S. military's Special Operations Command Korea (SOCKOR) showed a set of photos depicting commandos training in what seem to be coastal and mountainous areas.

"SOCKOR seized opportunities for cold weather, maritime and ground domain readiness training with Naval Special Warfare operators in November and December 2021," the command said.

Earlier, the U.S. military also made public USFK chief Gen. Paul LaCamera's recent trip to an air unit armed with formidable precision guided bombs and its Air Force's drills involving an aerial refueling plane last week.

The moves appear designed to send a message of deterrence against the North amid concerns Pyongyang could stage another show of force like an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, observers said.

Asked to comment on the moves, USFK spokesperson Col. Lee Peters said that "training is routine and continuously executed -- not timed or based on contemporary events."

On Jan. 20, the North issued a thinly veiled threat to suspend its moratorium on nuclear and ICBM tests, which it voluntarily declared in April 2018 ahead of its first-ever Singapore summit with the United States in June of that year.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)