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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smiles while watching the ground test of a high-thrust solid-fuel motor at Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Cholsan, North Pyongan Province in this Dec. 15 photo released by the North's Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap |
Seoul, Washington to revive suspended Foal Eagle field drill
By Kang Seung-woo
North Korea praised its achievements in its missile and nuclear programs this year, Wednesday, while strengthening its anti-American sentiment.
According to an article in the Rodong Sinmun, the official media outlet of the ruling Workers' Party, North Korea got off to a strong start in 2022 with the test-firing of a hypersonic missile, followed by months of other shocking developments including the launch of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its strongest strategic weapon.
This year alone, North Korea conducted record-setting ballistic missile tests more than 30 times. In addition, it is believed to have fully prepared for a seventh nuclear test.
In January, North Korea announced it had conducted a hypersonic missile test under the watch of its leader, Kim Jong-un. The hypersonic missile is capable of avoiding detection longer than a ballistic missile as it flies at lower altitudes.
"This year is the year in which the world realized what kind of determination the Kim Jong-un regime had when it prevented the United States from abusing its authority and never tolerated any acts aimed at harming its dignity and sovereignty," the newspaper said.
"Taking issue with our self-defense measures, the U.S. held combined military exercises with its followers in the waters of the Korean Peninsula on multiple occasions, threatening the stability and peace of the region," it continued.
The newspaper also said North Korea demonstrated its ability to implement its nuclear weapons policy by legalizing the use of its nuclear weapons preemptively to strike against adversaries that threaten its leadership.
"There has been no single country to declare all-out retaliation and fulfill it in the face of the U.S.," it added.
The article is seen as Pyongyang's move to pass on the responsibility for increasing tensions around the peninsula to the combined military exercises of South Korea and the U.S. and claims that its military provocations are self-defense measures against what it calls Washington's "hostile policy" toward the country.
In June, the North Korean leader reaffirmed the principle of "power for power and a head-on contest" and vowed to accomplish the goal of bolstering its national defense capabilities as soon as possible.
Also, the newspaper accused the U.S. of disregarding North Korea's repeated warnings, denouncing its attempts as "reckless suicide by those who have fallen into anachronism."
Meanwhile, amid North Korea's intensifying threats, South Korea and the U.S. plan to hold some 20 combined exercises in the first half of next year and what is drawing attention is the possible resumption of the Foal Eagle field training.
The Foal Eagle field training had been annually carried out together with the Key Resolve exercise until 2018. Key Resolve is a simulation-driven, combined command-post exercise, while Foal Eagle is a field training drill.
However, the two were suspended under the Moon Jae-in administration in order to engage North Korea diplomatically, as the North sees the exercises as a rehearsal for invasion.
"We have decided to expand the scale and types of combined field exercises in connection with combined exercises in the first half of next year, while deepening and developing execution procedures for theater-level exercises through the crafting of realistic training scenarios in consideration of advancing North Korean nuclear and missile threats," the defense ministry said in a press release after Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup presided over a meeting of top commanders to discuss the plan and other policy priorities.
