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| Arleigh Burke Destroyer the USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) has been ordered into Korean Waters |
Bill Gertz is reporting on the Washington Free Beacon website that "China has placed military forces on heightened alert in the northeastern part of the country as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula following recent threats by Pyongyang to attack, U.S. officials said."
"Reports from the region reveal the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently increased its military posture in response to the heightened tensions, specifically North Korea’s declaration of a “state of war” and threats to conduct missile attacks against the United States and South Korea."
"According to the officials, the PLA has stepped up military mobilization in the border region with North Korea since mid-March, including troop movements and warplane activity."
"China’s navy also conducted live-firing naval drills by warships in the Yellow Sea that were set to end Monday near the Korean peninsula, in apparent support of North Korea, which was angered by ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that are set to continue throughout April."
"North Korea, meanwhile, is mobilizing missile forces, including road-mobile short- and medium-range missiles, according to officials familiar with satellite imagery of missile bases."
Meanwhile, other press reports indicate that the U.S. Navy is shifting a guided-missile destroyer in the Pacific to waters off the Korean peninsula in the wake of ongoing rhetoric from North Korea, U.S. defense officials said.
The USS McCain is capable of intercepting and destroying a missile, should North Korea decide to fire one off, the officials said.
If you are a shortwave broadcast enthusiast, Gayle has just posted the latest A13 schedule for the Voice of Korea from Pyongyang, KCBS and PBS on her Shortwave Central blog (http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/).
You can also follow our late breaking real time news items on twitter via @MilcomMP and @QSLrptMT.