THE republic warned it could respond with “a new level of deterrent” to upcoming joint US-South Korea drills simulating battle against Pyongyang’s troops battle-hardened from deployment in the Russia-Ukraine war.
The 11-day exercises due to begin on Monday are an annual fixture of the summer calendar, designed to prepare the United States and South Korea to defend against the nuclear-armed North.
Pyongyang regularly labels them rehearsals for an invasion and this week test-fired a ballistic missile over the Sea of Japan, signalling its opposition to the exercises.
But this year’s drills are tailored to prepare soldiers to fight North Koreans with modern combat experience from the Russia-Ukraine theatre – including drone, cyberattack and GPS jamming capabilities.
Col Ryan Donald, spokesman for the US and South Korean Combined Forces Command, said this week that North Korea’s deployment to the European war had changed the threat his soldiers may face on the Korean peninsula.
“They’ve taken those lessons they learned there and brought them back to North Korea,” he said.
“Our training accounts for that threat,” he added.
Pyongyang’s foreign ministry statement said the US-South Korea drills are being staged “at a time when military and political situation is becoming more serious with each passing day in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world”.
The “Ulchi Freedom Shield” drills will include 18,000 South Korean troops and counterparts from the 28,500-strong US contingent in the country.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said that despite airing threats of escalation, the North Korean foreign ministry statement was notable for its comparably restrained tone. — AFP
