lennart
19-08-03, 00:26
US, S Korea Begin War Games
Despite N Korea Fury
8-18-03
(AFP) -- US and South Korean troops began joint war games in the face of objection from North Korea which condemned the exercise as a rehearsal for a pre-emptive strike on the communist country.
The annual Ulchi Focus Lens exercise, focusing on computerized war simulations with North Korea, involves 14,500 US forces based in and out of South Korea, US military authorities here said.
Seoul's defense ministry gave no exact figures on South Korean troops participating in the 12-day exercise, but confirmed it was the biggest joint military manoeuvres with the United States.
North Korea has blasted the war games, with Pyongyang's foreign ministry saying early this month it was a rehearsal for a "pre-emptive attack" on North Korea.
The United States and North Korea have been locked in a 10-month standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development drive.
The United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas have agreed to hold six-party talks in Beijing from August 27-29 to address the nuclear crisis after weeks of wrangling over a dialogue format.
The United States stations 37,000 troops in South Korea according to a mutual defense treaty signed after the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the conflict which ended in an armistice, rather than a peace treaty.
Weer een Golf van Tolkien opzetje?
Despite N Korea Fury
8-18-03
(AFP) -- US and South Korean troops began joint war games in the face of objection from North Korea which condemned the exercise as a rehearsal for a pre-emptive strike on the communist country.
The annual Ulchi Focus Lens exercise, focusing on computerized war simulations with North Korea, involves 14,500 US forces based in and out of South Korea, US military authorities here said.
Seoul's defense ministry gave no exact figures on South Korean troops participating in the 12-day exercise, but confirmed it was the biggest joint military manoeuvres with the United States.
North Korea has blasted the war games, with Pyongyang's foreign ministry saying early this month it was a rehearsal for a "pre-emptive attack" on North Korea.
The United States and North Korea have been locked in a 10-month standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development drive.
The United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas have agreed to hold six-party talks in Beijing from August 27-29 to address the nuclear crisis after weeks of wrangling over a dialogue format.
The United States stations 37,000 troops in South Korea according to a mutual defense treaty signed after the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the conflict which ended in an armistice, rather than a peace treaty.
Weer een Golf van Tolkien opzetje?