US and South Korean troops on Monday began large-scale exercises aimed at strengthening their joint defense capabilities against nuclear-armed North Korea, which has once again accused its allies of aggression.
The annual summer drills come amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, as the pace of North Korean weapons demonstrations and U.S.-South Korea joint military drills has accelerated in a cycle of retaliation against each other.
The drills began hours after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement reiterating North Korea’s contention that such drills are “war exercises designed to provoke aggression.” It said North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are thus justified, and added that “it is important to constantly maintain the balance of power to prevent war by building up the largest deterrent capability reserve.”
The United States and South Korea describe their joint exercises as defensive in nature and have expanded and upgraded their training in recent years to deal with emerging threats from North Korea.
The US and South Korean militaries did not immediately comment on the North Korean Foreign Ministry statement.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, scheduled to run for 11 days until August 29, involves more than 40 types of field exercises, including computer-simulated war games and live-fire drills. This year’s event focuses on enhancing its readiness against a variety of North Korean threats, including missiles, GPS jamming and cyber attacks, and will also reflect lessons learned from recent armed conflicts, aides said.
About 19,000 South Korean military personnel will take part in the drills, which will be held from Monday to Thursday alongside civil defense and evacuation exercises, including events based on scenarios of a North Korean nuclear attack.
The U.S. military has not confirmed the number of American troops taking part in the exercise or said whether it would involve U.S. strategic assets. In recent months the United States has increased its regional deployments of long-range bombers, submarines and aircraft carrier strike groups to train with South Korean and Japanese militaries.
The drills could trigger an aggressive response from North Korea, which has been flaunting its growing weapons programme and making verbal threats of nuclear conflict against Washington and Seoul.
Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a massive ceremony in the country’s capital, Pyongyang, handing over 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to front-line military units and calling for the continued expansion of his military’s nuclear program.
The incident has raised concerns about Kim’s weapons program, as he has demonstrated his intention to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons along North Korea’s border with South Korea and claimed his military could launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike if it felt his leadership was threatened.
Analysts say Kim Jong Un may seek to ramp up pressure in the United States in an election year as he pursues his long-term goals of forcing Washington to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and negotiating economic and security concessions from a position of strength.
During last year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, North Korea conducted a ballistic missile test in what it described as a “scorched earth” nuclear attack on South Korean targets.
In recent weeks North Korea has also launched thousands of balloons carrying garbage towards the South as part of a psychological warfare campaign that has further deteriorated relations between the two rivals divided by war.