Senior commanders of a joint South Korea-U.S. military unit visited a front-line Marine Corps base in a western border island Friday and held on-site discussions on its operations and readiness, officials said.
The combined battle staff of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), including Deputy Commander Gen. Ahn Byung-seok and Operations Director Maj. Gen. Lonnie G. Hibbard, made the visit to the 6th Marine Brigade on Baengnyeong Island, 209 kilometers west of Seoul, according to the CFC.
ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
During the visit, the commanders examined the unit's operational environment, encouraged soldiers stationed there and paid respects at a memorial tower for sailors who died in the 2010 sinking of the Cheonan corvette in waters near the island, the CFC said.
"Amid escalating threats from North Korea, the combined battle staff's visit to the northernmost area of the northwestern islands ... serves as an opportunity to solidify the 'South Korea-U.S. alliance in action' as evidenced by the (recent) bilateral summit," Ahn was quoted as saying.
President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden held a summit in Washington on Wednesday, and they agreed to bolster Washington's extended deterrence for South Korea.
Source: Yonhap News Agency