RFE: US and South Korean Troops Have Started Annual Joint Military Drills Amid a Tense North Korea Standoff
U.S. and South Korean troops have begun their annual military exercises amid continued angry words from North Korea.
The joint maneuvers, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, started early on August 21 and will run through August 31. The drills will involve computer simulations designed to prepare for war with nuclear-capable North Korea.
The official North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun on August 20 assailed the exercises, calling them an "expression of enmity" and saying they could trigger the "uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war."
Some 17,500 U.S. service members and 50,000 South Korean soldiers are participating in the exercises, along with 3,000 troops from Australia, Britain, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
Officials said there will be no field training, such as live-fire exercises or tank maneuvers.
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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- August 21, 2017
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