US-South Korea Military Drill
US-South Korea Military Drill
US, South Korea begin joint military exercise involving 48 field training drills, North Korea denounces South Korea-US military drills, warns of consequences
UPDATES: The United States and South Korea have started their regular joint military exercise, simulating emergencies on the Korean Peninsula. Known as "The Freedom Shield," the exercise began in South Korea on Monday and will continue for 11 days through March 14.
North Korea's defense ministry urged South Korea and the United States to stop military drills, saying they are rehearsals of war and warning of consequences, KCNA reported on Tuesday.
North Korea on Tuesday denounced an annual joint military exercise that South Korea and the United States launched this week, warning they will pay a "dear price" for what it called their large-scale war drills.
Photo NHK News
US, S.Korea begin joint military exercise involving 48 field training drills
By NHK News
The United States and South Korea have started their regular joint military exercise, simulating emergencies on the Korean Peninsula.
Known as "The Freedom Shield," the exercise began in South Korea on Monday and will continue for 11 days through March 14.
The program is scheduled to involve 48 field training drills -- roughly twice the number of those conducted in the spring of last year.
They include bombing, live-fire shooting and intercepting cruise missiles. The two countries say the drills are designed to deal with a nuclear threat from North Korea.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reports that the US military may deploy strategic arms, such as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and a strategic bomber, to the Korean Peninsula during the drills. North Korea strongly opposes the deployment.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has stressed that he sees South Korea not as a counterpart for unification but as a foe. He said in an address in February that it is a national policy to occupy South Korean territory in the event of war.
During the Freedom Shield exercise a year earlier, North Korea fired an ICBM-class Hwasong-17 missile and several short-range ballistic missiles.
Observers say that in response to this year's drills, North Korea may launch missiles that are designed to carry nuclear warheads.
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A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
North Korea denounces South Korea-US military drills, warns of consequences
By Hyonhee Shin, Reuters
North Korea's defence ministry urged South Korea and the United States to stop military drills, saying they are rehearsals of war and warning of consequences, KCNA reported on Tuesday.
South Korean and U.S. militaries kicked off their annual spring exercises on Monday with twice the number of troops joining compared to last year, seeking to improve their responses to North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
An unnamed spokesperson of Pyongyang's defence ministry said it strongly denounces what it called "frantic, reckless" military drills, urging them to stop, KCNA said.
The exercises can never be defensive but are an attempt to invade the North, the spokesperson said, pointing to their increased scale and the participation of 11 member countries of the United Nations Command.
"A nuclear war may be ignited even with a spark," KCNA quoted the spokesperson as saying.
The U.S. and South Korea will have to "pay a dear price for their false choice," the official added, vowing to conduct "military activities to strongly control the unstable security environment."
South Korea's defence ministry dismissed the North's statement, saying the exercises are defensive and meant to fend off the North's provocations and aggression.
"If North Korea makes a direct provocation using the exercises as an excuse, we will make overwhelming responses immediately, strongly and until the end," it said in a statement.
The Freedom Shield exercises, set to end on March 14, came as North Korea pushes to develop its nuclear capabilities with missile and other weapons tests.
The exercises are primarily designed to neutralise the North's nuclear threats, including by "identifying and striking" cruise missiles, which Pyongyang had indicated could carry nuclear warheads, Seoul military officials said.
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This photo, provided by the Air Force's 1st Fighter Wing on Monday, shows military aircraft taking off at an air base in Gwangju, 267 kilometers southwest of Seoul, as South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual joint military drills against North Korea's threats. (Yonhap)
N. Korea warns US-S. Korea to pay 'dear price' for joint military drills
By Yonhap, The Korea Herald
North Korea on Tuesday denounced an annual joint military exercise that South Korea and the United States launched this week, warning they will pay a "dear price" for what it called their large-scale war drills.
An unnamed spokesperson at the North's defense ministry issued a statement condemning the annual Freedom Shield exercise that began Monday for an 11-day run to strengthen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
"The large-scale war drills staged by the world's biggest nuclear weapons state and more than 10 satellite states against a state in the Korean peninsula where a nuclear war may be ignited even with a spark, can never be called 'defensive,'" read the English-language statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
The official said North Korea's army will monitor the enemies' "adventurist acts" and conduct "responsible military activities" to bring the unstable security situation under control.
"The US and the Republic of Korea will be made to pay a dear price for their false choice while realizing that it causes their security uneasiness at a serious level every moment," the spokesperson said.
This year's military drills come as North Korea has ramped up weapons tests in recent months with the launches of cruise missiles from land and sea and artillery firing near the tense western sea border.
On Monday, South Korean and US reconnaissance aircraft made a sortie in their apparent mission to closely monitor North Korea. During the military exercise, the US is likely to send its strategic military assets to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.
Pyongyang has long denounced the allies' joint military drills as rehearsals for an invasion and used them as a pretext for provocations. Seoul and Washington have said their military exercises are defensive in nature. (Yonhap)
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