美韓舉行聯合反潛演習

The United States and South Korea have kicked off a major anti-submarine drill, weeks after North Korea claimed it had successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

The South's Defense Ministry released a statement Monday, calling the drill "the largest joint anti-submarine exercise the allies have ever staged, in terms of its scale and number of vessels involved."

The exercise, which will run through Wednesday in waters off the southern resort island of Jeju, involves more than 10 vessels, including a South Korean Aegis destroyer, as well as submarines surveillance planes and helicopters.

The drills come amid growing concern about the expansion of the North's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.美國和韓國開始進行一次大規模反潛演習。幾星期前，朝鮮宣稱成功地完成了潛射彈道導彈試驗。

韓國國防部星期一發表聲明說，就演練內容以及參與艦隻數量而言，此次演習都是韓美迄今最大規模的反潛演習。

演習將進行到星期三，地點是韓國南部濟州島附近海域，10多艘艦船參加演習，包括一艘韓國宙斯盾級驅逐艦以及反潛偵察機和直升機。

在美韓舉行軍演之際，朝鮮核武器及彈道導彈項目的擴大引起越來越多的關注。