Korea Times
Allies start war games amid NK threats
US aircraft carrier to join in Key Resolve, Foal Eagle
By Lee Tae-hoon
South Korean and U.S. troops began their annual joint military drills Monday, despite North Korea’s threat to turn Seoul into a “sea of flames.”
North Korea has repeatedly threatened to annihilate Seoul or wage a "full-scale war" since Sunday, a day prior to the launch of the military exercises, Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.
It has also warned that it will undertake "precision strikes" at border areas from which balloons carrying propaganda leaflets are sent into the communist regime.
In response, Seoul issued a warning that should the North take any action, it will fire more than three shots for every North Korean one under the rules of engagement. It has also raised the military alert status at maritime and land borders.
"So far, no unusual movement by North Korea's military has been detected, but it has put its forces on a higher state of alert," a defense official said.
Key Resolve is a command-post drill using computer-based simulations to respond to any potential contingency that could arise on the Korean Peninsula.
A U.S. unit specializing in eliminating weapons of mass destruction is expected to participate in the drills to demonstrate its capability to remove North Korean nuclear weapons and missiles.
Key Resolve, whose exercise scenarios will focus on crisis management and command and control of alliance forces, will involve 2,300 U.S. troops of which some 500 will be arriving from outside Korea, according to defense officials.
Foal Eagle, which runs concurrently, is a large field training exercise focused on ground maneuvers, and air, naval, expeditionary and special operations forces drills.
It will involve some 10,000 U.S. troops, with the majority of the participants coming from units stationed outside the peninsula.
When asked whether a U.S. aircraft carrier would join the upcoming exercises, military officials neither confirmed nor denied it.
"A U.S. aircraft carrier plans to participate in this year's Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, but it has not been decided yet which of the two drills it would be involve with," a defense official said.
In an effort to validate the defensive nature of the combined drills, 10 international observers from the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission will oversee the exercises, said Kim Young-kyu, spokesman of the Combined Forces Command (CFC).
The South and the United States held two joint military drills last year, first in the East Sea in July and the second in the Yellow Sea in December.
The allies said the joint drills are defensive in nature but Pyongyang has vehemently lashed out at them.
"If the aggressors launch provocation for a 'local war,' the world will witness unprecedented all-out counteraction on the part of the army and people of North Korea," the North`s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Sunday.
The North also threatened to unleash an attack against the South, unless the latter suspends “psychological warfare” operations that involve sending basic necessities and leaflets via balloons to the communist North.
Last year, a North Korean torpedo sank the South Korean frigate Cheonan, killing 46 sailors on board in March. Then in November, North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island, saying that it was in legitimate defense as the South was carrying out military drills “against the North.”
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/02/116_82227.html
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