When POTUS Tells You to "Prepare for Aggression"...

Looks like you might get a chance to go Nork-hunting...

President Barack Obama has directed the U.S. military to coordinate with South Korea to "ensure readiness" and deter future aggression from North Korea, the White House said on Monday.

The United States gave strong backing to plans by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to punish North Korea for sinking one of its naval ships, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

The White House urged North Korea to apologize and change its behavior, he said.

"We endorse President Lee's demand that North Korea immediately apologize and punish those responsible for the attack, and, most importantly, stop its belligerent and threatening behavior," Gibbs said.

"U.S. support for South Korea's defense is unequivocal, and the president has directed his military commanders to coordinate closely with their Republic of Korea counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression," he said.

Obama and Lee have agreed to meet at the G20 summit in Canada next month, he said.

And here comes the inevitable "military exercises".

The U.S. and South Korea are planning two major military exercises off the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's torpedo attack on a South Korean warship.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters on Monday the joint exercises conducted in the "near future" will test the nations' ability to defeat submarines and to monitor and prevent illicit activities.

Whitman says the exercises are being planned as a result of the March 26 attack, in which a torpedo blew up a South Korean warship and killed 46 Korean sailors.

By: Brant