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ROK-US military drill begins amid DPRK threat

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-17 17:40

SEOUL: An annual computer-simulated war game of Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States was launched on Monday amid the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s "nuclear deterrent" threats against it.

The Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, which will mobilize 56,000 ROK soldiers and 10,000 US troops, is to take place between August 17 and August 27.

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The ROK and US military has been calling the annual drill as "purely defensive."

Earlier in the day, through the nation's official media KCNA, the DPRK military said it put 1.2 million troops on a "special alert" in response to the exercise.

The military also said "it would retaliate against any attempt to invade its territory with all offensive and defensive means including nuclear deterrent," according to ROK's Yonhap News Agency.

ROK defense ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae, however, said that no unusual activity has been observed in the DPRK.

"No unusual military activity has been spotted in the North (DPRK)," he said, adding that the "special alert" was launched whenever the joint war game was held in the past.

The two Koreas remain at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, instead of a peace treaty.