US and South Korea begin military drills aimed at strengthening their defense against North Korea

Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. and South Korean troops have begun a large-scale exercise aimed at strengthening their combined defense capabilities against nuclear-armed North Korea, which again is accusing the allies of practicing an invasion. The annual summertime exercise that began Monday comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the pace of both North Korea’s weapons demonstrations and the U.S.-South Korea combined military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat. The exercise began hours after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing the allies of staging “provocative war drills for aggression.” It added that the North’s nuclear ambitions are crucial to maintaining the balance of power and preventing a war by “stockpiling the greatest deterrence.”