News Detail

S-Korea, US launch major naval exercise

SEOUL: South Korea and the United States on Saturday launched a massive naval exercise in the tense Yellow Sea, ahead of the 62nd anniversary Monday of the outbreak of the Korean War, a spokesman said.

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The three-day drill will involve 10 South Korean warships plus the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, 8,000 personnel and hundreds of combat aircraft, the defence ministry said.

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The joint naval drill, which comes amid high tensions on the peninsula, is conducted every year, alternatively in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and the Yellow Sea.

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"The naval exercise started as scheduled today," the defence ministry spokesman said.

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On Friday, South Korean and US troops held their biggest single-day joint live-fire exercise to test responses to any North Korean attack.

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The drill at Pocheon near the North Korean border involved 2,000 troops along with jet fighters, tanks, Apache attack helicopters, A-10 "tank-killer" aircraft, missiles and rocket launchers, the defence ministry said.

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On Thursday and Friday, the US, South Korea and Japan carried out a separate drill off the southern South Korean island of Jeju, involving destroyers, supply ships and helicopters. North Korea denounced it as a "reckless provocation".

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Tensions are high after the North's failed rocket launch in April, seen by the US and its allies as an attempted ballistic missile test.

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"Throughout the joint military exercises, South Korean and US forces will test their ability for joint operations and enhance combat-readiness," Navy Brigadier General Park Seong-Bae said in a statement Friday.

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"We will immediately retaliate against any attacks from North Korea and finish the enemy off on the spot."

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Thousands evacuate after shooting sparks Utah fire

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SARATOGA SPRINGS: Thousands of residents whose homes were in danger of being threatened by a Utah wildfire have had to find shelter elsewhere as strong winds fueled a blaze that officials believe was started by target shooters.

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Residents of at least 2,300 homes in northern Utah were evacuated Friday, a day after the more than 6-square-mile fire started near the Saratoga Springs landfill, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. High winds then helped fan the flames onto tinder-dry grasslands.

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Authorities were initially worried as flames moved toward property owned by an explosives company, but the focus turned to saving homes as winds kicked up and the fire moved toward Saratoga Springs.

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Forecasters expect strong winds to persist through the weekend.

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On Friday, fire officials were calling in additional aircraft and extra ground crews.

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Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said he feared the fire could take down the area's power grid, shutting off electricity to up to 7,000 homes.

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"Several power poles and transformers ... up and down the fire lines have burned," Tracy said Friday evening. "If the fire gets a couple more critical poles and drops that grid, wires down on the ground, it will black out this entire area."

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Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Teresa Rigby said the 2,300 houses evacuated include residents who voluntarily left, along with those ordered to leave.

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BLM officials say they believe the blaze was caused when a bullet hit a rock and sparked the fire. This is the 20th target-shooting related fire this year in Utah, they said.

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One firefighter had suffered minor burns, and no structural damage had been reported, said Jason Curry, a spokesman for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

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A continued mix of hot, windy and extremely dry conditions has raised the fire danger across Utah and parts of Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado.

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At a wildfire burning on more than 69,000 acres in northern Colorado, some homes were being evacuated Friday because of several spot fires started by winds outside the main fire. Some of those residents were evacuated after the fire flared up on Sunday and had only returned home Wednesday.

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The mix of conditions that makes it easy for new fires to start and spread and cause existing fires to flare up is expected to last through Saturday there.

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The fire west of Fort Collins has now destroyed at least 191 homes. It's also blamed for the death of a woman found dead at her ranch.

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In southern Colorado, a new 300-acre fire near Mancos was threatening at least 10 structures and prompted officials to evacuate some homes east of town, federal officials said.

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Gov. John Hickenlooper's office said he signed executive orders releasing $6.2 million more in state disaster money to fight the fire and two others.

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The northern Colorado fire will have $5 million more available, on top of $20 million made available by a previous order. The fire has qualified for 75 percent federal reimbursement for firefighting costs, Hickenlooper's office said. A fire near Lake George will get $1 million, and the Stuart Hole fire in Larimer County will receive $200,000. The disaster money is coming partly from reserve funds.

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