US and South Korean troops to stage biggest joint exercise

By Park Sae-jin Posted : February 18, 2016, 12:58 Updated : February 20, 2016, 13:48

[Aju News DB]


South Korea's defense chief said Thursday that US and South Korean troops will stage their annual joint exercise this spring at its biggest, as the allies flex their muscle against North Korea.

The Key Resolve exercise involving 15,000 US troops and 290,000 South Korean troops will begin in early March, along with the Foal Eagle field training drill, the South's defense ministry said.

"This will be the biggest ever in terms of quality and quantity," Defense Minister Han Min-goo was quoted by the ministry as telling ruling party legislators.

Military officials have said this year’s Key Resolve would test a new operational scheme called "Operations Plan(OPLAN) 5015" to prepare the allies for preemptive attacks against North Korea ahead of its possible invasion across the border. Washington will also exercise a quick dispatch of overseas troops to the peninsula.

There are about 30,000 US troops permanently stationed in South Korea. Extra US military assets and personnel will come from abroad for the spring drills that Washington and Seoul insist are purely defensive in nature, but which Pyongyang condemns as provocative rehearsals for an attack on the North.

This year's joint drills come at a time of elevated cross-border tensions following North Korea's nuclear test and rocket launch which prompted the United Nations Security Council to work on tougher sanctions against the nuclear-armed country.

In a show of force, Washington has displayed powerful and strategic weapons to the peninsula such as a B-52 bomber, F-22 stealth fighter jets and an attack submarine. The nuclear-powered supercarrier USS John C. Stennis is to participate in the upcoming exercise.

Joint military drills by South Korea and the United States are becoming more offensive-oriented, shifting the focus toward infiltration and preemptive strikes away from defense against North Korean attacks.

On Thursday, South Korea's naval and coastguard ships staged a joint drill off the east coast to counter a North Korean terrorist attack against a South Korean vessel.

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