South Korean naval sailors (bottom L) stand on its floating base as the sun rises off Yeonpyeong Island November 28, 2010.
SEOUL - THE United States and South Korea on Sunday mounted a major show of naval strength to deter North Korea following its deadly shelling attack, despite Pyongyang's warning of unpredictable consequences.
The four-day exercise involving around a dozen warships including a US aircraft carrier began at 7am, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
Washington insists that the drill - which has been criticised by Beijing - is defensive in nature and was planned long before last week's attack, but says it is intended to send a message of deterrence to the North.
The drill involving at least 11 major warships and thousands of service personnel was taking place off South Korea's southwest coast, far from the flashpoint inter-Korean border, according to coordinates given by Seoul officials.
Pyongyang has warned that the new war games mean the peninsula 'is inching closer to the brink of war'. It regularly uses such rhetoric and it was unclear whether it would try to disrupt the drill in any way. -- AFP