South Korea, U.S. begin exercises as North Korea threatens attack

By Jack Kim and James Pearson

South Korean and U.S. marines participate in a joint landing operation drill in Pohang, South Korea

South Korean and U.S. troops began large-scale military exercises on Monday in an annual test of their defenses against North Korea, which called the drills "nuclear war moves" and threatened to respond with an all-out offensive.

South Korea said the exercises would be the largest ever following North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch last month that triggered a U.N. Security Council resolution and tough new sanctions.

Isolated North Korea has rejected criticism of its nuclear and rocket programs, even from old ally China, and last week leader Kim Jong Un ordered his country to be ready to use nuclear weapons in the face of what he sees as growing threats from enemies.

The joint U.S. and South Korean military command said it had notified North Korea of "the non-provocative nature of this training" involving about 17,000 American troops and more than 300,000 South Koreans.

South Korea's Defence Ministry said it had seen no sign of any unusual military activity by the North.

North Korea's National Defence Commission said the North Korean army and people would "realize the greatest desire of the Korean nation through a sacred war of justice for reunification", in response to any attack by U.S. and South Korean forces.

"The army and people of the DPRK will launch an all-out offensive to decisively counter the U.S. and its followers' hysterical nuclear war moves," the North Korean commission said in a statement carried by the North's KCNA news agency.

The North, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as it is officially known, routinely issues threats of military action in response to the annual exercises that it sees as preparation for war against it.

The threat on Monday was in line with the usual rhetoric it uses to denounce the drills.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei noted that North Korea had already said it opposed the drills, adding that Beijing was "deeply concerned" about the exercises.

"China is linked to the Korean Peninsula. In terms of the peninsula's security, China is deeply concerned and firmly opposed to any trouble-making behavior on the peninsula's doorstep. We urge all sides to keep calm, exercise restraint and not escalate tensions," he told a daily news briefing.

The latest U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea were drafted by the United States and China as punishment for its nuclear test and satellite launch, which the United States and others say was really a test of ballistic missile technology.

South Korea's spy agency said it would hold an emergency cyber-security meeting on Tuesday to check readiness against any threat of cyber attack from the North, after detecting evidence of attempts by the North to hack into South Korean mobile phones.

South Korea has been on heightened cyber alert since the nuclear test and the rocket launch.

South Korea and the U.S. militaries began talks on Friday on the deployment of an advanced anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea.

Kim, Jack, and James Pearson. "South Korea, U.S. begin exercises as North Korea threatens attack." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 7 Mar. 2016. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Response

So another round of angry North Korean rhetoric begins--almost impossible to tell apart from the statements issued in 2012 leading up to another controversial missile launch. And like in 2012 or in every year since, nothing is likely to result from Kim Jong Un's grandiose threats, certainly not an all-out war (perhaps nothing more than sporadic shelling).

But the annual exercises do shed some light on recent geopolitical developments in the area. The continued development of the North Korea nuclear programme has become a serious threat for the South Korean military, as one can see from the scale of the operation as well as its determination to upgrade its defense capabilities. And coming on the heels of yet another set of UN-issued sanctions, one has to wonder at the situation in Pyongyang. Finally, Beijing's noncommittal statement, echoing concern for the entire peninsula and urging for "calm" from both sides, reflects the cooling relationship between Kim Jong Un's government and its most powerful ally--also keeping in mind that China voted in favour of the sanctions in the Security Council.

What interested me most, however, was the mention of potentially deploying THAAD missile systems in Korea. Whether this will take place via the placement of U.S. batteries on South Korean soil or an arms deal, any type of regional defense system against missile attack is likely to significantly change the state of military power in southeast Asia. By undermining the power that China (and perhaps even North Korea) possess in their nuclear deterrent capabilities, THAAD may represent a cheaper and less controversial strategy for dealing with a nuclear threat, and open the way for other countries, such as Japan or Taiwan, to develop similar systems.

As for bias, the writer of the article seems to generally favour South Korea and its allies, portraying North Korea's missile tests as the worst kept secret in the world (well maybe second, after Israel's) and subtly characterising its leadership as irrational and stubborn.

As a South Korean myself, I obviously possess significant bias myself against Kim Jong Un's regime and fully support the necessity and legitimacy of these exercises occurring on the peninsula.