SEOUL, March 9 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and the United
States kicked off their annual joint military exercises on Monday despite strong
oppositions by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
According to the Chosun Daily, 26,000 U.S. troops and
over 50,000 South Korean troops will participate in the Key Resolve and Foal
Eagle exercise all over South Korea.
The exercise, which was set to end on March 20, are
aimed at strengthening the capabilities of the allies to quickly reinforce
frontline forces when South Korea was invaded, the organizers said earlier.
Among the U.S. troops, 14,000 are from overseas bases
of the U.S. military, the U.S. Force Korea said earlier.
The USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier and a total
of seven U.S. Aegis destroyers will take part in the exercises, the Chosun Daily
said.
The DPRK military has repeatedly demanded the U.S.
military to cancel the exercises.
A spokesman for the DPRK's general staff said Monday
his country will retaliate against any attempt to intercept its rocket by
mobilizing "the most powerful military means," arguing such a move would
"precisely mean a war," South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Monday.
SEOUL, March 9 (Xinhua) -- South Korea expressed "regrets" over Pyongyang's cut-off of last military communications channel, Yonhap said Monday.
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had cut off the last inter-Korean communications channel to protest South Korea's
military exercise with the United States, Yonhap news agency
reported.Full story
PYONGYANG, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) has ordered its troops to be ready for a war against
the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK), the official KCNA said on
Monday.
The order, released by the supreme command of the
Korean People's Army (KPA), targeted the U.S.- ROK joint military exercises set
to begin on Monday. KCNA said that the KPA will deal "merciless retaliatory
blows" on the U.S. and ROK troops should the latter intrude upon the DPRK during
the drills.
"There is no limit to the retaliatory measure of the
KPA and no one can predict or evade it," KCNA quoted the order as
saying. Full story
PYONGYANG, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Monday it will launch a war on the territory of
the United States, Japan and South Korea, if its satellite launching "for
peaceful purpose" was intercepted.
The DPRK "will launch without hesitation a just
retaliatory strike operation not only against all the interceptor means involved
but against the strongholds of the U.S. and Japanese aggressors and the south
Korean puppets who hatched plots to intercept it," the official KCNA news cited
a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) as
saying. Full story
SEOUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. special envoy on the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Stephen Bosworth said Saturday that
Washington wants dialogue with Pyongyang.
"We are reaching out now. We want dialogue," Bosworth
said upon his arrival to South Korea. Full story
SEOUL, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) held
their general-level military talks on Friday morning but failed to achieve
significant outcomes.
According to a news release by the UNC, the meeting
only last for 45 minutes at the truce village of Panmumjom. Full story
PYONGYANG, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned on Thursday that it will not guarantee the safe
flights of South Korean airplanes, including civil ones, within or near its
territory, as a counter measure to the upcoming joint U.S- South Korea military
drills.
A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of Korea issued a statement denouncing the joint military
exercises to take place on March 9, the official KCNA news agency said. Full story
