The US and South Korean troops kicked off a large-scale exercise on Monday aimed at strengthening their combined defense capabilities against nuclear-armed North Korea.
The annual summertime exercise comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the pace of both North Korea’s weapons demonstrations and the US-South Korea combined military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.
The exercise began hours after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement repeating the North's contention that such exercises are “provocative war drills for aggression.” It said the North’s nuclear ambitions are thus justified, adding that it is crucial to "constantly maintain the balance of power for preventing a war by stockpiling the greatest deterrence.”
The United States and South Korea described their joint drills as defensive in nature and have been expanding and upgrading their training in recent years to cope with the North’s evolving threats, Anadolu news agency reported.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, which continue for 11 days, through Aug. 29, include both computer-simulated war games and more than 40 kinds of field exercises, including live-fire drills. The allies said this year’s program is focused on enhancing their readiness against various North Korean threats, including missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattacks and will also reflect lessons learned from recent armed conflicts.
About 19,000 South Korean military personnel will participate in the drills, which will be held concurrently with civil defense and evacuation drills from Monday through Thursday that will include programs based on North Korean nuclear attack scenarios.
The drills could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which has been flaunting its growing weapons program and issuing verbal threats of nuclear conflicts against Washington and Seoul.
MA/PR