S. Korea, US press ahead with joint military drills despite Pyongyang warnings
The US and South Korea will press ahead with joint military exercises, a Pentagon official said, defying demands from Pyongyang for their cancellation.
North Korea fired what Seoul described as two short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, after two similar launches last week. Pyongyang described one of them as a “solemn warning to the South Korean warmongers” over the planned military drills.
The joint exercises are set to begin on Monday and will last just over two weeks. The US and South Korea scaled the maneuvers down earlier this year amid a flurry of diplomatic exchanges with the North.
The military activities on both sides raise questions over the prospects for an imminent start to negotiations on Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, AFP said.
