S. Korea, U.S. stage combined river-crossing drills

South Korean and U.S. troops kicked off a large-scale river-crossing exercise earlier this week to improve joint operational capabilities, Seoul's Army said Wednesday. The five-day drills began Monday at Namhan River in Yeoju, 61 kilometers southeast of Seoul, involving some 590 troops and 243 mechanized assets and aircraft, including CH-47D helicopters, K1A2 tanks and K808 armored vehicles, according to the Army. During the drills, troops from the South's 7th Engineer Brigade and the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division built a 280-meter pontoon bridge in three hours, allowing the vehicles to swiftly cross the river and reach their target destination, it said. "This exercise, which was designed to enhance realistic river-crossing capabilities of the two countries, defined operational procedures utilizing combined assets and focused on confirming the interoperability of the two sides' river-crossing assets," it said. Source: Yonhap News Agency