Joint South Korean and US military drills set to kick off next month could for the first time in years include more weaponry and troops, and more aggressive messaging as tensions with North Korea rise.
It is a stark contrast with recent years when the two allies played down their military exercises, holding computer-based training, scaling down field exercises, avoiding major weapons and not publicising some of the drills, at least partly as they sought to placate Pyongyang and restart stalled denuclearisation talks.
“Any decision regarding combined training will be made by the US-ROK Alliance,” he said, using the initials for South Korea's official name.It denied local media reports there had been discussions about holding trilateral exercises with the US and Japan, according to Yonhap news agency. “The North Korea threat continues to increase while ROK and USFK military readiness arguably has declined because of insufficient training,” he said.
“Suspending these costly and highly provocative military exercises will be a crucial step towards restarting genuine diplomacy with North Korea,” the groups said in a statement they plan to send to US and South Korean leaders.
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