25 August, 2017
USA and South Korean forces are preparing for a joint military exercise just weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to launch missiles toward Guam.
Ties between the Koreas are nearly always fraught, but anxiety is higher than normal following weeks of tit-for-tat threats between U.S. President Donald Trump and Pyongyang in the wake of the North's two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month.
Will the allies keep it low-key, or focus on projecting strength?
For months, the USA and South Korea have been planning for Ulchi Freedom Guardian, an annual exercise that will involve 14,500 US service members stationed on the Korean Peninsula and an additional 3,000 who will travel to participate.
China has urged both Washington and Pyongyang to tone down the rhetoric and stop actions that inflame tensions, missile testing on North Korea's side and military exercises on the US and South Korean side.
The drills, which began in the 1970s and will involve 17,500 American troops and 50,000 South Korean soldiers this year, consist mainly of computer simulations aimed at honing joint-decision making and planning and improving command operations.
There are more than 28,000 US service members stationed in South Korea. While the head of the U.S. strategic command said that the Pentagon will send all strategic assets needed to defend South Korea in the event of a contingency, the U.S. Pacific Command chief stressed that Washington prefers a diplomatic solution to resolve the North Korea issue.
There will be no field training during the current exercise, according to U.S. Forces Korea.
There's media speculation that the allies might try to keep this year's drills low-key by not dispatching long-range bombers and other USA strategic assets to the region.
"I would like to repeat the appeal to the DPRK to listen to the fact that there is no alternative to stopping the different provocations and to return to dialogue", South Korean ambassador Kim Inchul said.
But what is the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian military drill, and why could it heighten tensions between North Korea and the world even more?
North Korea has threatened to test-fire missiles that would fly over Japan and land in waters off the U.S. territory of Guam. Shortly after the drills, the North carried out its fifth and biggest nuclear test, which it claimed was of a "standardized" warhead that could fit on a variety of its rockets.
Seoul's unification ministry declined to compare the level of North Korea's war rhetoric with last year's.
But North Korea sees them as provocative and hostile, perhaps even preparation for an invasion. The question is how strong it will be.
The North's military statement said it will launch an unspecified "merciless retaliation and unsparing punishment" on the United States over the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills that began Monday for an 11-day run. The latest sanctions were imposed after North Korea tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.
The flight path of the North Korean missile test would cross that part of the country. Russian Federation has also asked for the drills to stop but the United States has not backed down.
Gen. Hyten on Tuesday made the pledge during a news conference in front of two Patriot missile launchers in the U.S. Osan Air Base near Seoul.
"Smart military planning means ensuring that exercises do not enflame an already tense situation", Wright said. It is a "computer simulated defensive exercise created to enhance readiness, protect the region and maintain stability on the Korean peninsula", the Pentagon said on Friday.
