SEOUL, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- South Korean and U.S. warships fired artillery and aircraft intercepted mock enemy airplanes Monday during the second day of joint drills in the Yellow Sea.
Military leaders said the "high intensity" drills were aimed at deterring North Korean provocations, such as last week's assault on a South Korean island near the countries' disputed maritime border in which four people -- two military personnel and two civilians -- were killed, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
In Seoul, President Lee Myung-bak warned future North Korean provocations won't be tolerated and expressed anger over the North's "incessant menace and belligerence."
Soon after Lee's speech, North Korea reiterated its displeasure about the joint naval drills, calling them "another grave military provocation" that would lead to "all-out war."
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"It would be a miscalculation if the U.S. and South Korean warlike forces attempt to astound and pressure," North Korea's ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in a commentary. North Korean forces would launch a "merciless" counterattack "if they provoke us again," it said.
Monday's drills include anti-submarine, live-fire, aerial bombing and maritime defensive and offensive warfare, an official with South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said.
U.S. Rear Adm. Dan Cloyd, commander of the USS George Washington carrier strike group, said the exercise demonstrates "the resolve that we have to mutual deterrence of the Republic of Korea."
The joint drill also will help "improve the substantiality, interoperability and readiness of both of the Republic of Korea and U.S. forces and our collective commitment of security and stability here in the Asia-Pacific region," Cloyd said.
