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The United States and South Korea begin their largest joint war games yet, ignoring North Korea’s anger. Photo/via NDTV
SEOUL – United States of America (US) and South Korea (South Korea) started their largest joint war games on Monday (13/3/2023).
They ignore anger North Korea (North Korea) previously considered such joint maneuvers a declaration of war.
Washington and Seoul have stepped up defense cooperation in the face of increasing threats from North Korea, which has carried out a series of UN-banned weapons tests in recent months.
The joint US-South Korean war games, named Freedom Shield, are slated to last at least 10 days starting Monday and will focus on the “changing security environment” as North Korea’s multiplicity of threats.
In a rare move, Seoul’s military this month revealed that it and Washington’s special forces were conducting the “Teak Knife” military exercise—which involves simulating a precision strike on a key facility in North Korea—ahead of the Freedom Shield maneuvers.
All such drills infuriate North Korea, which views them as rehearsals for invasion.
North Korea, which is led by Kim Jong-un, insists that its nuclear weapons and missile programs are for self-defense.
On Sunday, North Korea fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine in waters off its east coast. The maneuver was confirmed by North Korea’s state media, KCNA, on Monday.
The KCNA report mentioned Pyongyang’s “constant attitude” towards facing a situation where “US imperialists and South Korean puppet forces are increasingly undisguised in anti-North Korean military maneuvers”.
