11-day military exercise kicks off

Peace lovers: Anti-war activists holding ­placards reading ‘Stop ROK-US war exercises’ during a rally to protest against the annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, near the Presidential Office in Seoul. — AFP

The country and the United States began large annual military exercises to bolster their readiness against North Korean nuclear threats after the North raised animosities with an extension of missile tests and belligerent rhetoric earlier this year.

The South Korean and US forces began a computer-simulated command post-training called the Freedom Shield exercise and a variety of field exercises for an 11-day run, the South Korean Defence Ministry said.