The bilateral military cooperation is part of efforts by South Korea, the United States and Japan to strengthen their trilateral cooperation against the North’s evolving nuclear threats.
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On Friday, South Korea resumed high-decibel propaganda broadcasts across the border as North Korea celebrated its leader Kim Jong-Un’s 32nd birthday.
Last August, the two countries reportedly exchanged artillery fire over the issue before reaching a deal that ended the broadcasts and pledged other measures to ease tensions between the two Koreas.
In his phone call to Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida, Kerry reiterated the steadfast commitment of the U.S.to the security of Japan and emphasised the importance of a unified worldwide response to the South Korean provocative actions.
South Korea has taken similar measures in the past and implemented them for about a month in response to nuclear or missile tests by its northern neighbor.
South Korean and USA military leaders also discussed the deployment of United States “strategic assets”. Media said the assets could include B-2 and B-52 bombers, and a nuclear-powered submarine. But South Korea sees K-pop and propaganda as quick ways to show its displeasure – and a guaranteed irritant to the North’s sensitive and proud leadership.
The tyrant’s celebration comes just days after he boasted that his country had successfully conducted a test of a its first hydrogen nuclear bomb yesterday.
Reports of the nuclear test on Wednesday angered both the USA and China.
“We agree that there cannot be business as usual, and we agreed that we will work very closely together to determine the steps that we can take in order to address our increasing concerns about that nuclear test”, Kerry said.
The voice of a male announcer was heard from the speakers mocking North Koreans and suggesting that Kim Jong Un and his wife are extravagant.
Fusion is the main principle behind the hydrogen bomb, which can be hundreds of times more powerful than atomic bombs that use fission. North Korea is thought to have a handful of rudimentary nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to ideal a multistage, long-range missile to carry smaller versions of those bombs.
South Korea is preparing to launch the same anti-North propaganda campaign that brought the two to the brink of war a year ago.
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His citizens have held a giant rally, with a crowd of what the organisers said was 100,000 on central Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square to demonstrate support for their country’s nuclear test this week.
