Since then, Pyongyang has shut down two existing hotlines with South Korea – one used by the military and one for government-to-government communications.
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Tensions on the Korean peninsula have worsened in recent months, with North Korea under harsh United Nations sanctions over a series of tests of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise “is created to enhance alliance readiness, protect the region and maintain stability on the Korean peninsula”, the Republic of Korea and United States Combined Forces Command said in a statement Sunday. Of the USA troops, about 2,500 are coming from off the peninsula.
“It is the consistent stand of the (North Korean) government to fundamentally terminate the danger of a nuclear war posed by the U.S.by dint of the powerful nuclear deterrence and defend the regional and global peace”, the statement read.
Just as it has done for past drills, the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission reportedly informed the North Korean military that the ongoing drills are training exercises and are “non-provocative”.
“The nuclear war maniacs should keep in mind that the KPA would mount a merciless preemptive nuclear strike of Korean style to the source of provocation to reduce it to rubbles if they show any slight sign of aggression against the DPRK’s territory, water and airspace”, the KPA spokesperson added. For its part the US has promised to send air defense systems to South Korea following continued missile tests from North Korea this year.
A USA official told CNN earlier this month that the regime’s aggressive testing of medium- and long-range missiles – as well as its nuclear testing – makes North Korea now a “practical” threat and no longer a “theoretical” threat.
North Korea, however, claims that the U.S.
But, she said the domestic turmoil in Pyongyang could cause North Korea to lash out. The secretive nature of North Korea and its nuclear program mean that experts are not entirely sure how well developed Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons are.
Experts are divided over how many warheads North Korea has in its possession, and how far its missiles would be capable of delivering those warheads.
North Korea has made similar statements in the past, but according to research from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the joint drills do not provoke North Korea. However it looks as though efforts were wound down in July.
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The defections were “bound to happen as Kim Jong Un began killing his generals”, Lankov said of the reported purges of top party officials including the execution of Kim’s uncle. North Korea responded by firing artillery and South Korea fired back.
