国和韩国的国防部长周二说，两国将于周日开始大规模反潜 艇军事演习，作为对今年早些时候一艘韩国军舰沉没的回应的一部分。
参加此次军事演习的将有包括约20艘军舰和200架飞机在内的一支美国 航空母舰战斗群。演习曾因要寻求对军舰沉没事件的外交回应而推迟，之后又因中国的批评而部分改变了地点。
美国国防部长罗伯特•盖茨(Robert Gates)和韩国国防部长官金泰荣(Kim Tae-young)在声明中说，这些防御性的、联合演习旨在向朝鲜发出一个明确的信号，即朝鲜挑衅性的行为必须停止，我们致力于联手加强我们的综合防务 能力。
盖茨和金泰荣周二进行了约一小时的会谈。周三，他们将与美国国务卿希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)和韩国外交通商部长柳明桓(Yu Myung-hwan)举行更大规模的会谈。
5月份，由韩国牵头的调查发现韩国军舰是 被一艘朝鲜潜艇发射的鱼雷所击沉，此后韩国和美国一直在计划进行反潜艇军事演习。在3月份的沉船事件中，有46名韩国船员遇难。朝鲜则将事故责任归咎于韩 国。
不过，6月初军方推迟了军事演习，以使各国外交人士可以推进联合国安理会通过谴责 朝鲜的决议。安理会本月早些时候发表声明，谴责了袭击事件，不过没有直接批评朝鲜。做出这样的让步是为了防止中国投票否决。中国是朝鲜主要的政治盟友和经 济援助国。
对于美国航空母舰战斗群在黄海举行军事演习的可能，中国政府一再表示不满。黄海位于中国和朝鲜半岛之间。美国官员说，他们有权 在任何地方的公海上进行演习，不过他们选择在下周的军事演习中将航空母舰战斗群安排在韩国东部海域（即日本海）。
The U.S. and South Korea will conduct a major antisubmarine training exercise starting Sunday, the defense chiefs of the two countries said Tuesday, as part of their response to the sinking of a South Korean ship earlier this year.
The exercise--which had been delayed to pursue a diplomatic response to the sinking, then partially moved in response to criticism from China--will involve a U.S. carrier group that includes about 20 ships and 200 planes.
'These defensive, combined exercises are designed to send a clear message to North Korea that its aggressive behavior must stop and that we are committed to together enhancing our combined defensive capabilities,' U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his South Korean counterpart, Kim Tae-young, said in a statement.
Gates and Kim met for about an hour Tuesday, in advance of a larger meeting on Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)
South Korea and the U.S. have been planning the antisubmarine exercise since a South Korea-led investigation in May found the ship had been sunk by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine. Forty-six South Korean sailors died in the March incident, which the North has blamed on the South.
But the militaries in early June delayed the exercise to allow diplomats from the countries to press the United Nations Security Council for a resolution condemning North Korea. The council earlier this month produced a statement that condemned the attack but avoided direct criticism of North Korea, a compromise needed to prevent a veto by China, the North's chief political ally and economic benefactor.
China's government repeatedly expressed anger about the prospect of a U.S. carrier group undertaking training exercises in the Yellow Sea, which separates China and the Korean peninsula. U.S. officials said they had the right to train in international waters anywhere, but they opted to keep the carrier group in the Sea of Japan, known in South Korea as the East Sea, for next week's exercise.