TOKYO (Sputnik) – After North Korea launched a Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite atop a long-range rocket earlier in February, defying a UN Security Council resolution which bans Pyongyang from launching rockets that could be used as ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads, the United States deployed additional Patriot air-defense missiles in South Korea.
"[North Korea’s] powerful strategic and tactical strike means…will go into preemptive and just operation to beat back the enemy forces to the last man if there is a slight sign of their special forces and equipment moving to carry out the so-called 'beheading operation' and 'high density strike,'” the North Korean army command statement reads, as quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
The US-South Korean military exercises scheduled for next month, though conducted annually, this year will be the largest ever, according to Seoul officials.
