Leaders in Pyongyang assert that military exercises in the south only fuel North Korea’s intention to develop preemptive nuclear strike capability, Sputnik reported. “As long [as the] United States and its followers persist their nuclear threat and the blackmails against the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea], and as long as they do not give up the war exercises they stage…right in front of DPRK, the DPRK will continue to bolster the self-reliance defense capability,” said Kim In Ryong, North Korean ambassador to the UN.
In Ryong’s allusion to US President Donald Trump’s intent to grow and modernize America’s nuclear arsenal comes in the wake of the US’ deployment the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system in South Korea, which has angered Beijing and Pyongyang.
The two-week cyber exercises, called ‘Key Resolve,’ will occur "simultaneously" with Seoul-Washington field drills, dubbed ‘Foal Eagle,’ Stars and Stripes reported.
One of the first orders sent to troops stationed in South Korea was to eliminate all consumption of alcohol, according to the US Forces in Korea twitter account.
— U.S. Forces Korea (@usforceskorea_) March 12, 2017
To Pyongyang, the joint exercises resemble a dress rehearsal of an invasion into their sovereign territory. North Korea’s state news service, the Korean Central News Agency, said that Seoul “should understand” that conducting joint drills with Washington "is like dancing with a powder-flask whose ignition has been lighted." North Korea patronized South Korea by suggesting that cooperation with the US "will bring nothing good."
