The tense situation is expected to escalate as the United States and South Korean naval forces plan to stage four days of war games off the Yellow Sea starting this Sunday.

Leading the show of firepower in the Yellow Sea will be nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington and its battle group, to be joined by a flotilla of South Korean destroyers and other warships.

Concernerd agencies, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), and the Philippine Overseas Welfare Administration (POEA) have been directed to temporarily halt the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to South Korea.

Earlier, the DFA asked for the deferment of the deployment of some 50 Filipino migrant workers to South Korea.

“I was told that 50 Filipino workers were scheduled for deployment to South Korea next week,” Conejos bared on Saturday. “We’ve talked about it and we’ve decided to postpone the deployment of the 50 workers.”

Conejos said that it would be better to monitor the situation between the two Koreas in the next three to four days before deciding whether or not to push through with the scheduled trip.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte on Saturday said the “decision to hold the deployment of workers was a result of the government team’s decision, upon the President’s instructions, to assess the situation continually and make the corresponding action.”

She added that the total number of Filipinos in South Korea is 46,000, including undocumented persons. On the other hand, there are nine Filipinos in North Korea.

Valte, however, said that despite continuing tension between the two Koreas, the Philippine government remains optimistic that the tensions would ease.

“At this point, we’re still hoping that tensions will ease and that tensions will not escalate,” she said. “Nonetheless, President Aquino is taking the more prudent way and he wants to make sure that we are prepared for any eventuality.”

Valte likewise stressed that contingency measures are in place to keep OFWs in North and South Korea out of harm’s way.

President Aquino has already ordered the testing of the current validity of the evacuation plan in a bid to check if there is a need for any modification.

Valte said there are Filipinos close to the north of South Korea’s capital Seoul, which is near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) along the 38th Parallel Line, which is one of the Philippine government’s main concerns.

“We are preparing measures to make sure everyone is evacuated to safety,” Valte assured.

US carrier heads to South Korea
Meanwhile, USS George Washington left its port in Japan Wednesday, a day after North Korea stunned the world by launching a barrage of shells and rockets at a South Korean border island, killing two marines and two civilians.

China – which has refrained from criticizing its traditional communist ally Pyongyang over the attack on the frontline island – has however put the United States on notice that it opposes the naval drill.

The Pentagon says the maneuver in international waters will be “defensive in nature”, follows similar drills in the past, was planned months before North Korea's attack, and “is not directed at China”.

The George Washington strike group conducted similar operations in October 2009 west of the Korean peninsula.

But Washington also says that its display of naval firepower will act as a “deterrent” to the volatile regime of Kim Jong-Il, which has kept the region on edge for years with its nuclear and long-range missile tests.

Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed South Korean military source as saying: “The intensity of the exercise will be greater than had been planned. Participating forces will carry out firing and bombing drills.”

Pyongyang claims it acted in retaliation Tuesday to a South Korean firing drill in what it regards as its own waters and has warned that the new war games mean the peninsula “is inching closer to the brink of war”.

The centerpiece of the US Navy strike force is the 97,000-ton George Washington, which can carry about 75 aircraft on its 1.8 hectare (4.5 acre) flight deck and has a crew of 5,500 service personnel.

The George Washington and nine surface combatant ships together form the core of the Seventh Fleet, the US Navy's largest and only permanently forward deployed carrier strike group, based in Yokosuka near Tokyo.

Also taking part in the drill will be an embarked carrier air wing and vessels the USS Cowpens, Lassen, Stethem and Fitzgerald.

South Korea will deploy destroyers, patrol vessels, frigates, support ships and anti-submarine aircraft, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said without giving details of the numbers of ships or personnel, the Korea Times reported.

The US Forces Korea statement also said: “US and allied operations are built on an already strong foundation of cooperation and this exercise is intended to further enhance interoperability.”

SoKor lays to rest 2 slain marines
As tension mounts, South Korea laid to rest Saturday two marines killed in North Korea's artillery strikes, on the eve of massive naval war games with the United States that have angered Pyongyang and its ally Beijing.

At a somber funeral attended by political leaders, top military brass and tearful relatives, hundreds of uniformed troops commemorated the marines killed along with two civilians in the attack on a frontline island Tuesday.

Koreans in Baguio
In Baguio City, the Korean community there is closely watching the developments in their homeland.

Jason Yang, a Baguio-based Korean businessman over the past 15 years, said the attack of North Korea is just a desperate act of Pyongyang to gain international attention for the future leaders of the communist nation which is set to be passed on to one of Kim Jong Il’s sons, the alleged “black sheep” in their family.

While the Korean community in the city is not affected by the brewing tension, Yang explained efforts must be undertaken by the United Nations (UN) to defuse the tension so that peace will reign in the Korean peninsula.

He said that once there is war, male Koreans below 50 years old are obliged to render their services to the South Korean military.

Madel Sabater & Ellson Quismorio, Manila Bulletin