North Korea also labelled the exercise a “clear manifestation of a vicious plot”, and threatened the South Korean government with nuclear retaliation on Monday.
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Seoul and Washington DC have said they have no intention of invading the totalitarian state and that the exercises are exclusively defensive. North Korea frequently makes such threats. North Korea was informed of the drills by the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission.
Pyongyang also protested Monday the US’s plan to deliver air defense systems to South Korea amid restarted nuclear missile tests in the North.
U.S. Navy Lt. Jeff Bowman, U.S. 7th Fleet planner, works with his Republic of Korea counterpart August 21, 2008, during the final stages of exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian at an undisclosed location.
The ministry said that Thae made a decision to defect because of his disgust with the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, his yearning for South Korean democracy and worries about the future of his children.
North Korea warned Monday that it would launch a preemptive nuclear attack against the US and South Korea if they showed the “slightest sign of aggression” toward Pyongyang while conducting their annual military drills.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye responded to Pyongyang’s threats by saying, “The North Korean regime has been continuously suppressing its people by its reign of terror while ignoring the livelihood of its people”. “This does not mean North Korea is on the brink of collapse”.
Amid last year’s drills, tensions also were high on the Peninsula after two South Korean troops were seriously wounded by North Korean mines placed in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two countries.
A spokesman for the KPA General Staff said that North Korea’s frontline units were “fully ready to mount a pre-emptive retaliatory strike at all enemy attack groups involved”. These resulted in harsh new sanctions being implemented by the United Nations.
South Korean military has since been put on high alert and would “vigorously strike back” in the event of any hostile action.
North Korea is developing a nuclear program despite global sanctions against the initiative, though its exact capabilities are a cause of much speculation.
Pyongyang has remained defiant, and there are concerns that the leadership will order a show of force in the wake of the recent defections.
Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon Hee said Thae told South Korean officials that he defected because of his disillusionment with Kim’s regime.
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The North Korean official news agency KCNA described Thae as “human scum” and said he had fled to avoid criminal charges including embezzling funds and raping a minor.
