South Korea and the United States are to conduct yet another anti-submarine drill along the South's western sea border beginning on Sunday, its official Yonhap news agency said on Friday.
The manuver, lasting until next Thursday, is to be held in the Yellow Sea and is meant to deter Pyongyang from resorting to any future military misadventures against Seoul.
"(The joint exercises) are designed to send a clear message of deterrence to North Korea, while improving overall allies' anti-submarine warfare capabilities," the U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement.
It said ten ships of both U.S. and South Korean Navies-- including two U.S. guided-missile destroyers, USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Fitzgerald--as well as a fast-attack U.S. submarine will take part.
According to the South Korean Navy, the exercises will enhance their battle-readiness and enable them to thwart provocations from North Korea.
The announcement was greeted with a customary threat of "strong retaliation" from North Korea.
"Our Army and people will sternly respond to the joint exercises with a merciless blow if the war-mongers go ahead with the reckless provocation," the North's state-run Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said on its website.
The joint drill is the second one to be held in the last couple of months and is part of a series of military manuvers planned in the wake of the sinking of a South Korean Navy vessel.
Navy frigate 'Cheonan' sank in the frigid waters of the Yellow Sea near the maritime border between the two Koreas on March 26 drowning 46 South Korean sailors.
A subsequent multinational probe blamed the North for the tragedy which was, however, rejected by Pyongyang.
The first of these joint drills held in late July, involved 20 ships, 200 aircraft and 8,000 military personnel. It was also the first military exercise, involving live ammunition, to take place near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) since the Cheonan sinking.
The NLL serves as the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas drawn by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War which ended without a formal peace treaty.
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