SEOUL: The United States (US) and S Korea kicked off their largest joint drills in five years on Monday, following nuclear-armed North Korea warned such exercises could be seen as a “declaration of war”.
The US and South Korea have ramped up defense and military cooperation in the face of growing nuclear threats from North Korea, which has carried out ever more provocative banned arms tests in the last few months.
US-S Korea to start largest exercises
The South Korea-US drills, called “Freedom Shield”, are scheduled to continue for at least ten days from Monday and will focus on the “changing security environment” due to N. Korea’s aggression, the allies claimed.
In a rare move, the S. Korean military revealed that Washington and Seoul special troops were staging “Teak Knife” military drills ahead of the “Freedom Shield” exercise. All such drills infuriate N. Korea, which views them as rehearsals for an attack. N. Korea said its nuclear missile programs are for the purpose of self-defense.
Earlier, N Korea test-fired two “strategic cruise missiles” from a submarine in waters off its east coast, the state-run KCNA news agency stated on Monday.
The news agency cited North Korea’s “invariable stand” to meet a situation in which “the United States (US) imperialists and the S Korean forces are getting ever more unconcealed in their anti-DPRK military exercises.”
The US has repeatedly restated its commitment to defending S. Korea, including using its “full range capabilities, including nuclear”. Seoul, for its part, is eager to reassure its increasingly nervous public about Washington’s commitment to extended deterrence, in which American military assets, including nuclear arms, serve to stop attacks on close allies.
