US-S Korea begin war drills amid Pyongyang tensions

[손명숙]

(Asia Today Tuesday 22 August 2017)

US-S Korea begin war drills amid Pyongyang tensions

South Korean President Moon Jae-In. Photo: Reuters

President Moon warns North not to use annual simulations as excuse for ‘provocations’

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Published: 4:00 AM, August 22, 2017

SEOUL — South Korean President Moon Jae-in (picture) has warned the nuclear-armed North not to use the annual war games between Seoul and Washington that kicked off yesterday as an excuse to perpetuate the “vicious cycle” of tensions.

“There is no intent at all to heighten military tension on the Korean peninsula as these drills are held annually and are of a defensive nature,” Mr Moon told Cabinet ministers.

“North Korea should not exaggerate our efforts to keep peace nor should they engage in provocations that would worsen the situation, using (the exercise) as an excuse.

“North Korea must understand its repeated provocations are what is forcing South Korea and the US to conduct the joint defensive drills.”

The joint US-South Korean drills will continue to Aug 31 and involve computer simulations designed to prepare for war with a nuclear-capable North Korea.

The United States also describes them as “defensive in nature”, a term North Korean state media has dismissed as a “deceptive mask”.

“It’s to prepare if something big were to occur and we needed to protect ROK,” said Ms Michelle Thomas, a US military spokeswoman, referring to South Korea by its official name — the Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang views such exercises as preparations for an invasion and has fired missiles and taken other action to coincide with the military drills in the past.

North and South Korea are technically still at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.

North Korea’s rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons and missiles capable of reaching the US mainland has fuelled a surge in regional tension and UN-led sanctions appear to have failed to bite deeply enough to change Pyongyang’s mind.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported yesterday that a confidential United Nations report found North Korea had continued to evade UN sanctions by “deliberately using indirect channels” and had generated US$270 million in banned exports since February.

The “lax enforcement” of existing sanctions and Pyongyang’s “evolving evasion techniques” were undermining the UN’s goal of getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, Kyodo quoted the report as saying.

The UN Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Aug 5 that could slash the North’s US$3 billion annual export revenue by a third.

The latest sanctions were imposed after North Korea tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.

US President Donald Trump has warned that North Korea will face “fire and fury” if it threatens the US.

The North responded by threatening to fire missiles towards the US Pacific island territory of Guam, but later said it was holding off on a decision while it waited to see what the US would do next. There will be no field training during the current exercise, according to US Forces Korea.

The US has about 28,000 troops in South Korea. About 17,500 US service personnel are participating in the exercise this month, down from 25,000 last year, according to the Pentagon.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis said on Sunday the reduction in the number of US troops taking part was “by design to achieve the exercise objectives”, denying suggestions Washington had cut them back to try to ease tensions with Pyongyang.

“This right now is an exercise to make certain that we’re ready to defend South Korea and our allies over there,” Mr Mattis told reporters.

US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris arrived in the South on Sunday to inspect the exercises and discuss growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats.

On the eve of the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian drills, North Korea said the US was “pouring gasoline on fire”.

Other South Korean allies are also joining this year, with troops from Australia, Britain, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand taking part.

China, North Korea’s main ally and trading partner, has urged the US and South Korea to scrap the drills.

Russia has also asked for the drills to stop but the US has not backed down. AGENCIES