The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Jarvis enters Incheon Harbor on Friday for joint exercises with the Korea Coast Guard until June 10 and conduct other goodwill exchanges./Yonhap Seoul, Washington to Talk Fresh N.K. Contingency Plans U.S. Stealth Bombers Already Arriving Deal with Operational Control After Devising Measures for Sudden Changes in N. Korea Seoul Simulated Bombing of N.Korean Nuclear Plant Korea, U.S. Agree to Compromise N.Korea 'Concept Plan' 'N.K. Nuke Crisis Started With Aluminum Imports’ Security Council Threat to N.Korea Was Premature: Rice Korea, U.S. ‘Close’ to Agreeing N.K. Contingency Plan

Until June 10, the Jarvis will conduct harbor security and disaster rescue drills with the Korea Coast Guard. A Korea Coast Guard official said it was the first time the Korean and U.S. coast guards have trained together. The boat will also be accessible to the general public.

The Jarvis, which is based in Honolulu, Hawaii, is 115 m long and 13 m wide and has a top speed of 29 knots. It is armed with 25 mm and 76 mm cannon and anti-missile equipment. Launched in 1972, the venerable cutter has conducted patrol and rescue operations throughout the coastal areas of the North Pacific, from Hawaii to Alaska. This round of joint drills reportedly came about at the invitation of Korea Coast Guard Commissioner Lee Seung-Jae, who was a spectator at U.S.-Canadian coast guard exercises last year.

The port security exercises come hard on the heels of reports that the U.S. wants to strengthen the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an international cooperative network to stop movement of weapons of mass destruction Washington wants to boost with North Korea in mind. But a high-ranking Korea Coast Guard official said the exercises did not include counter-terrorism activity, and had nothing to do with the PSI. South Korea is not a partner in the initiative.

Prof. Kim Tae-woo of Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said the country had expressed no intention to participate in the PSI, and it was unlikely Seoul would get involved in a maritime blockade of the North. "If U.S. and Japanese ships were to inspect North Korean ships in nearby international waters and we were to send our Coast Guard, it could develop into hostilities between the two Koreas," he said.

About 20 nations have said they will participate in the U.S.-led PSI, whose participants agree to stop and search vessels suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction, counterfeit bills or drugs, and confiscate illicit cargo.

(englishnews@chosun.com )