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Since US aircraft carriers trained in the West Sea right after the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010, US warships have refrained from entering the West Sea for fear of a dispute with China.
However, the US Navy Chief of Staff said that US ships are considering training in the West Sea, and that setting up the US Navy's home port in Korea is also a possible option.
Kim Tae-hoon is a defense reporter.
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On the 12th, US Navy Chief of Staff Michael Gilday mentioned the possibility of US naval vessels training in the West Sea at an online forum hosted by the Korea-US Institute.
[Michael Gilday/U.S. Chief of Naval Staff: We are well aware that the West Sea is a hot issue.
If the US Navy is to conduct exercises in the West Sea, it must be able to deliver accurate messages in accordance with the specific purpose.]
This means that the exercises in the West Sea will be carefully reviewed according to the security situation between the US and China and the US and North Korea.
The United States sent a strategic bomber, the B-1B Lancer, to the vicinity of Gunsan in the West Sea in an unusual way during the ROK-US combined air force training in November last year.
Now, it looks like the U.S. Navy is trying to advance into the West Sea.
Gilday went one step further and said that setting up a home port for US warships in Korea targeting China and North Korea, like the Yokosuka base in Japan, is also a consideration.
[Michael Gilday/US Chief of Naval Staff: (Installation of the US Navy's home port in Korea) is not ruling out the option.
We will discuss this option with the Indo-Pacific Commander.]
"Security cooperation between Korea, the United States and Japan is not a luxury, but a necessity," he said, suggesting a plan for joint exercises by ships from the three countries outside the Indo-Pacific.
Regarding President Yoon Seok-yeol's statement that if the threat from North Korea grows, he can also arm himself with nuclear weapons.
(Video editing: Lee Seung-hee)