After Pyongyang’s missile tests
USA and South Korea start military exercises
4/18/2022 1:36 p.m
North Korea only reported testing a weapon system for nuclear weapons over the weekend. Shortly thereafter, South Korea and the United States begin one of their regular joint military exercises to strengthen defenses. Pyongyang sees this as a “dress rehearsal for a war”.
Amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, US and South Korean forces are holding one of their regular drills. The nine-day commando exercise began as planned on Monday, a spokesman for the US Forces Korea (USFK) said. It is a biannual defense training course using computer simulations. Among other things, the infection process with the corona virus is also taken into account. There are no field exercises.
The so-called staff framework exercise is about the cooperation of management staffs. According to the information, it is intended to serve both alliance partners “to strengthen joint operational capability and to improve the defensive position”. The USFK did not provide any information on the number of soldiers involved.
At the beginning of the exercises, the US special representative for North Korea arrived in Seoul for talks. According to the US, Sung Kim wants to meet with his South Korean colleague Noh Kyu Duk and other officials during his five-day visit. Upon arrival, the US envoy said he was in Seoul to continue “close coordination” over developments in North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported. Washington is always ready for talks with North Korea without preconditions, but Pyongyang has so far rejected these offers, Kim said.
North Korea’s missile tests raise tensions
North Korea regularly accuses the US of preparing for an attack through its military exercises in South Korea and describes the training as a “dress rehearsal for a war”. Washington and Seoul dispute this. The US has deployed 28,500 troops in South Korea to deter threats from North Korea.
Tensions have risen again after a series of missile tests by North Korea this year. The country, which is largely isolated because of its nuclear weapons program, said it tested a new “tactical guided missile” on Saturday that is intended to increase its nuclear power. It indicated that the weapon was capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Experts suspected that a short-range missile was being tested. Satellite images also show signs of new activity in a tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. Pyongyang has not tested any nuclear weapons since 2017. UN resolutions ban North Korea from testing any type of missile that can be fitted with nuclear warheads.