Allies to focus on ‘surgical strikes' on NK nuke facilities
By Yi Whan-woo
South Korea and the United States will begin their largest-ever joint military exercises, Monday, with a focus on the swift deployment of U.S. strategic assets and "surgical strikes" against North Korea's key nuclear, missile, and other military facilities.
The annual spring exercises on the Korean Peninsula will include two parallel drills ― Key Resolve and Foal Eagle ― involving over 300,000 South Korean troops and 15,000 U.S. personnel, according to South Korean military officials, Sunday. They said this is almost double the number of personnel in previous years.
"This will be the biggest Seoul-Washington military exercises since 2010 when Pyongyang launched a deadly torpedo attack on South Korean naval frigate Cheonan," an official said.
Seoul and Washington have claimed that the previous drills were purely defensive and non-provocative in their nature.
Triggered by North Korea's latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, the allies have abruptly included preparations for preemptive strikes against the military state in their war games this year.
The largely computer-simulated Key Resolve will last for a week and be led by the Republic of Korea -U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC).
It is aimed at countermeasures against a North Korean attack on the South. But this year's program will also include OPLAN 5015, a wartime plan jointly adopted by Seoul and Washington in June 2015 to prepare for preemptive strikes against Pyongyang if necessary and destroy its weapons of mass destruction.
Held every summer, UFG is one of the largest annual military exercises conducted between Seoul and Washington besides Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.
The official also said the 2016 Key Resolve will implement a joint deterrence strategy endorsed in November 2015 ― coined the 4D strategy ― "to detect, defend, disrupt and destroy" nuclear missile threats posed by North Korea.
Foal Eagle will involve training exercises on sea, air and land running until April 30. Washington is set to deploy many strategic weapons, including B-2 stealth bombers, aerial refueling tankers, nuclear submarines and USS John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
In addition to Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, Seoul and Washington also will conduct Ssangyong, an annual amphibious assault exercise first introduced in 2012. It will run until March 18.
South Korea will mobilize 3,000 marines and 2,000 Navy personnel while the U.S. will bring 7,000 marines and five maritime prepositioning ships.
"The number of participants will be the largest in scale since the exercise began," the Ministry of Defense said.
"It is designed to strengthen interoperability and working relationships across a wide range of military operations, including complex expeditionary operations," the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said.
North Korea has accused the Seoul-Washington military exercises as "a dress rehearsal for invasion."
On Sunday, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of Pyongyang's Workers' Party, threatened to "crush American military bases in South Korea as well as the U.S. mainland into pieces" if Washington continues its provocations.
By Yi Whan-woo
South Korea and the United States will begin their largest-ever joint military exercises, Monday, with a focus on the swift deployment of U.S. strategic assets and "surgical strikes" against North Korea's key nuclear, missile, and other military facilities.
The annual spring exercises on the Korean Peninsula will include two parallel drills ― Key Resolve and Foal Eagle ― involving over 300,000 South Korean troops and 15,000 U.S. personnel, according to South Korean military officials, Sunday. They said this is almost double the number of personnel in previous years.
"This will be the biggest Seoul-Washington military exercises since 2010 when Pyongyang launched a deadly torpedo attack on South Korean naval frigate Cheonan," an official said.
Seoul and Washington have claimed that the previous drills were purely defensive and non-provocative in their nature.
Triggered by North Korea's latest nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, the allies have abruptly included preparations for preemptive strikes against the military state in their war games this year.
The largely computer-simulated Key Resolve will last for a week and be led by the Republic of Korea -U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC).
It is aimed at countermeasures against a North Korean attack on the South. But this year's program will also include OPLAN 5015, a wartime plan jointly adopted by Seoul and Washington in June 2015 to prepare for preemptive strikes against Pyongyang if necessary and destroy its weapons of mass destruction.
"OPLAN 5015 was included in the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise last year, but this is the first time that the plan will be carried out in a Key Resolve drill," said a different official.
Held every summer, UFG is one of the largest annual military exercises conducted between Seoul and Washington besides Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.
The official also said the 2016 Key Resolve will implement a joint deterrence strategy endorsed in November 2015 ― coined the 4D strategy ― "to detect, defend, disrupt and destroy" nuclear missile threats posed by North Korea.
Foal Eagle will involve training exercises on sea, air and land running until April 30. Washington is set to deploy many strategic weapons, including B-2 stealth bombers, aerial refueling tankers, nuclear submarines and USS John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
In addition to Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, Seoul and Washington also will conduct Ssangyong, an annual amphibious assault exercise first introduced in 2012. It will run until March 18.
South Korea will mobilize 3,000 marines and 2,000 Navy personnel while the U.S. will bring 7,000 marines and five maritime prepositioning ships.
"The number of participants will be the largest in scale since the exercise began," the Ministry of Defense said.
"It is designed to strengthen interoperability and working relationships across a wide range of military operations, including complex expeditionary operations," the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said.
North Korea has accused the Seoul-Washington military exercises as "a dress rehearsal for invasion."
On Sunday, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of Pyongyang's Workers' Party, threatened to "crush American military bases in South Korea as well as the U.S. mainland into pieces" if Washington continues its provocations.
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