Washington, D.C. ? The Obama administration on Monday announced plans for two major military exercises off the Korean peninsula in a show of force aimed at North Korea, which has been blamed by investigators for a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship.

The White House called U.S. support for South Korea “unequivocal” and said in a statement that President Barack Obama had directed military commanders to work with the South “to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression.”

North Korean leaders have denied responsibility and warned against any retaliation, but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday blamed the North for the crisis.

U.S. officials hope a united international response, coupled with a display of military might, will deter North Korea’s neo-Stalinist regime from ratcheting up tensions.

An international team of investigators last week blamed the North for the March 26 sinking of the South Korean corvette, the Cheonan. Forty-six South Koreans died aboard the ship, which investigators say was ripped in two by a torpedo.