South Korea and the US yesterday commenced large-scale military exercises, triggering condemnation and threats of a pre-emptive nuclear strike from North Korea.
The two-week annual Ulchi Freedom drill, which plays out a scenario of full-scale invasion by the nuclear-armed North, is largely computer-simulated, but still involves about 50,000 South Korean and 25,000 US soldiers.
The exercise always triggers a rise in tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula, and this year it coincides with particularly volatile cross-border relations following a series of high-profile defections.
Photo: AP
The North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned Ulchi Freedom as an “unpardonable criminal act” that could bring the peninsula to “the brink of war.”
Meanwhile, the Korean People’s Army (KPA) threatened a military response to what it described as a rehearsal for a surprise nuclear attack and invasion of the North.
North Korea’s frontline units were “fully ready to mount a preemptive retaliatory strike at all enemy attack groups involved,” a KPA General Staff spokesman said.
The slightest violation of North Korea’s territorial sovereignty would result in the source of the provocation being turned “into a heap of ashes through Korean-style pre-emptive nuclear strike,” the spokesman said.
The North’s main ally China voiced its opposition to Ulchi Freedom, with a commentary published by the Xinhua news agency saying it would only make Pyongyang “more aggressive” at an already sensitive time.
As the drill began, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said a recent spate of headline-grabbing defections from North Korea signaled political turmoil in Pyongyang that could cause the leadership there to lash out against the South.
“It is increasingly possible that North Korea may undertake various terror attacks and provocations... to block internal unrest, prevent further defections and create confusion in our society,” Park told a meeting of her National Security Council.
On Sunday, the South Korean Ministry of Unification urged all citizens to be on guard against possible North Korean assassination attempts on defectors and anti-Pyongyang activists in the South.
Park said the South’s military was on high alert and would “vigorously strike back” in the event of any hostile action.
Last month, Pyongyan severed its only direct communications link with the US when it closed the so-called “New York channel” which had previously served as a key point of contact between North Korean and US diplomats at the UN.
A nuclear test in January heightened North Korea’s isolation as the international community, backed by the North’s main diplomatic protector China, imposed substantially upgraded economic sanctions.
Last week, North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain Thae Yong-ho defected to the South — a rare and damaging loss of diplomatic face for Pyongyang and a major PR victory for Seoul.
The North’s official KCNA news agency described Thae as “human scum” and said he had fled to avoid criminal charges including embezzling funds and raping a minor.
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