North Korea: Donald Trump confirms joint military drills with South Korea despite warning
GETTY North Korea warned Donald Trump about carrying out further military drills with South Korea
Seoul said in January they had agreed with Washington to postpone the regular military exercises to ensure a peaceful Olympics, and the two Koreas held their first formal talks in more than two years ahead of the Games. The South Korean and US militaries usually begin the joint military drills in March. The drills can involve as many as 17,000 US troops and over 300,000 South Koreans. This year's exercises will be held on a similar scale but without key US strategic assets such as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers or bombers, Seoul officials said.
North Korea, which calls the drills a rehearsal for war, has threatened to take "counteraction" against the United States if it holds joint military exercises with South Korea. The secretive state previously unleashed its fury against Mr Trump and accused the USA of aiming to "aggravate the situation on the Korean peninsula at any cost". A warning, pumped out by the communist state's propaganda machine, said the joint drills was America's way to "to bring dark clouds of a war to hang over the Korean Peninsula". Pyongyang’s mouthpiece Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said: "If the US finally holds joint military exercises while keeping sanctions on the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), the DPRK will counter the US by its own mode of counteraction and the US will be made to own all responsibilities for the ensuing consequences.
US and South Korea meet for winter drill on North Korea's doorstep Wed, December 20, 2017 The winter training exercise originally was designed to prepare for possible North Korea attacks and is annually held by soldiers of South Korea's and the U.S. Marine Corps Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 12 A South Korean Marine aims his rifle on a snowy hill during a joint winter drill with US Marines in Pyeongchang
"The US should clearly understand this and exercise prudence." The US Department of Defence released a statement outlining the “defensive nature” of the planned drills. The statement said: “Secretary of Defence James Mattis and the Republic of Korea Minister of National Defence Song Young-moo have agreed to resume the annual combined exercises including Foal Eagle and Key Resolve which were deconflicted with the schedule of the Olympic Games. “The exercises are expected to resume April 1, 2018, at a scale similar to that of the previous years.
“The United Nations Command has notified the Korean People's Army on the schedule as well as the defensive nature of the annual exercises. “In accordance with the previous practices, the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission will observe the exercises to confirm their compliance with the armistice agreement.” Tensions on the Korean peninsula have eased since last year resulting in inter-Korean talks and the North sending a high-level delegation led by Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, and athletes to the Winter Olympic. The warning comes after Seoul and Washington said they will go ahead with already postponed regular joint military exercise after the Winter Olympics and Paralympics being hosted in South Korea, which ends on March 18.
GETTY South Korea and the US usually carry out the annual drills in March
After the decision to delay the joint exercise, North Korea agreed to hold the first official talks with South Korea in more than two years and send athletes to the Winter Games, easing a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes. But South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myong-gyon has now said talks to stage the postponed military drill were moving forward. A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by state media KCNA news agency as saying "we will neither beg for dialogue nor evade the military option claimed by the US". The spokesman said: "Whether peace desired by our nation and the rest of the world settles on the Korean peninsula or a situation that no one desires is developed in the vicious cycle of confrontation depends entirely on the attitude of the US."
GETTY North Korea has reiterated that it classes the joint military drills as 'clouds of war'