The US-led UN Command Military Armistice Commission said it notified the North Korean army that the exercises were “non-provocative” in nature. Korean police and fire departments and local governments will also practice drills during the UFG exercise period, which continues until September 2.
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However, Pyongyang says the annual war games are designed for invasion.
The Associated Press reports that the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills are largely computer-simulated and involve some 25,000 US forces and 50,000 members of South Korea’s military.
This year’s manoeuvres, known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian, will run over a course of 12 days.
“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.
Pyongyang has also strongly criticised a U.S. plan to place a high-tech defence missile system in South Korea. However, the actual retaliation to South Korea-US military drills has largely been restricted to firing ballistic missiles into the sea.
“Recently, even North Korea’s elite group is collapsing, followed by key figures defecting to foreign countries, showing a sign of serious cracks”, explained South Korean President Park Guen-hye at a National Security Council meeting on Monday.
On Sunday the Unification Ministry in Seoul urged all citizens to be on guard against possible North Korean assassination attempts on defectors and anti-Pyongyang activists in the South.
Pyongyang is known for its bellicose rhetoric, but the statement comes at a time of increased tensions on the peninsula.
And last month it severed its only direct communications link with the United States when it closed the so-called “New York channel” which had previously served as a key point of contact between North Korean and USA diplomats at the United Nations.
The January nuclear test heightened North Korea’s isolation as the worldwide community imposed substantially upgraded economic sanctions.
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.
KCNA didn’t identify Thae by name, but said North Korea had ordered the “fugitive” who had worked at the embassy in Britain to return to the North in June to be investigated for a series of crimes, including embezzling government funds, leaking state secrets and sexually assaulting a minor.
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In addition to Thae Yong Ho, a number of North Koreans reportedly have defected this year – including a high-ranking military officer in April and 13 North Korean workers at a state-run restaurant in China.
