Most recently, the United States and South Korea had scaled back their military exercises. But now it should go up again. North Korea responded in the usual way.
Amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, South Korean and US forces are set to hold the largest joint summer exercises in five years. The annual drills are scheduled to begin next Monday and last until September 1, the Seoul Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. The authority did not provide any information on the number of soldiers taking part. The US has deployed 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent to a North Korean threat.
Under the name “Ulchi Freedom Shield”, training is to be combined with computer simulations, field exercises and a large civil defense exercise. A Defense Department spokesman said it would be the largest exercise since 2017. On Tuesday, both countries began a multi-day crisis management training course.
A sharp reaction from North Korea to the upcoming maneuvers was feared in Seoul. The leadership of the largely isolated country regularly accuses the US of maneuvering South Korea to prepare for an attack. Washington and Seoul deny this, emphasizing the drills are designed to improve defense capabilities.
Summer maneuvers recently reduced further
Tensions in the region have escalated again this year following a series of tests by North Korea of nuclear-capable missiles. In May, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his American counterpart Joe Biden agreed to expand joint maneuvers.
In recent years, both countries have reduced the scope of several exercises for diplomatic reasons or canceled them altogether. When the US canceled the summer exercises in South Korea in 2018, it wanted to create greater opportunities for negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. However, since the failed summit between the USA and North Korea in Vietnam in February 2019, these have not made any progress.
North Korea keeps firing
North Korea has so far been unimpressed by the plans of its neighbor and its allies. According to South Korea, the country again fired two rockets. Early Wednesday morning, North Korea fired two cruise missiles into the sea from Onchon in Pyongan province, the Defense Ministry said in Seoul. The US and South Korean military are currently evaluating the data.
According to the Yonhap news agency, it is the first North Korean cruise missile test since January. Cruise missiles are not covered by UN sanctions against the internationally isolated communist country. North Korea has conducted numerous weapons tests since the beginning of the year, including one with an ICBM. South Korea and the US fear that Pyongyang is preparing a nuclear weapons test. It would be the first such test since 2017.
Source: Stern
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