The 12-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian command and control drills began Monday with 25,000 American troops and 50,000 South Korean soldiers participating, according to both militaries.
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The project has been planned since March, when the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced its intention to place artificial reefs near the Northern Limit Line, the line of demarcation in the Yellow Sea between North and South Korea, which dates back to the Korean War.
North Korean forces are “ready to mount a pre-emptive retaliatory strike at all enemy attack groups involved in Ulchi Freedom Guardian”, he said, referring to the exercise by its official name.
“We express strong regret toward North Korea for distorting the fact and denouncing our annual defensive exercise as a “nuclear first-strike” and “invasion of North Korea.’ Also, we define Pyongyang’s acts of threatening us with a ‘nuclear first-strike attack” and making such highly threatening remarks as regretful acts that should not be made”, said Joon-hee.
The annual drill will include 25,000 United States troops, the bulk of which are already stationed in Korea, according to a statement by U.S. Forces Korea.
“If they show the slightest sign of aggression on the inviolable land, seas and air … where the sovereignty of the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is exercised, it would turn the stronghold of provocation into a heap of ashes through Korean-style preemptive nuclear strike”, the General Staff Department of the Korean People’s Army said in a statement, South Korea’s Yohnhap News reported.
North Korea’s threats come amid new concerns over the increased sophistication of that country’s nuclear and missile programs.
High-level defections pointed to cracks in the Kim regime, South Korean President Park Geun Hye said yesterday.
The January nuclear test heightened North Korea’s isolation as the global community, backed by the North’s main diplomatic protector China, imposed substantially upgraded economic sanctions.
“It is an annual exercise”.
The Associated Press reports that the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills are largely computer-simulated and involve some 25,000 USA forces and 50,000 members of South Korea’s military. “That is certainly something we would welcome”.
In his notes, the 48-year-old man reflected on the obstacles he faced in his new life in South Korea. Officials said that the exercises are likely to make North Korea “more aggressive” at a time when tensions have been high.
“Considering [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-Un’s character, it is very unsafe”, said the unidentified official.
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When asked if the USA was concerned about the increase is hostile rhetoric out of Pyongyang, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner answered, “There is always concern, but I don’t think that is going to keep us from moving forward”.
