S Korea, US conduct drills despite Pyongyang threats
SOUTH Korea and the United States wrapped up their annual large-scale military drills yesterday but continued a separate joint naval exercise that has triggered dire threats from nucleararmed North Korea.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been running sky-high for weeks, with signs that the North might be preparing a long-range missile launch or a sixth nuclear test – and withWashington refusing to rule out a military response.
The massive “Foal Eagle” drill, which the Defence Ministry in Seoul said was ending as scheduled yesterday, involved around 20,000 South Korean and 10,000 US troops.
Another annual joint exercise known as “Key Resolve” ended last month.
Both play out scenarios for a conflict with North Korea, but Seoul and Washington insist they are purely defensive in nature, despite Pyongyang’s claims that they are provocative rehearsals for invasion. Their conclusion normally signals a period of relative calm in NorthSouth tensions, but this year the situation looks set to remain highly volatile.
The South Korean Defence Ministry confirmed yesterday that a joint naval drill with a US strike group, led by the aircraft carrier USS CarlVinson, was still ongoing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
The exercise, aimed at verifying the allies’ capability to track and intercept enemy ballistic missiles, is expected to continue until sometime next week.
Through state media, North Korea has threatened to attack the Carl Vinson, and a state-sponsored website yesterday also warned of a possible strike against a US nuclear-powered submarine despatched to the area.
China is “putting pressure” on its ally North Korea to curb its weapons programs, Trump told the CBS televi- sion network’s Face the Nation program. If North Korea carries out another nuclear test “I would not be happy”, he said.
“And I can tell you also, I don’t believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either,” Trump said in excerpts of the interview released on Saturday.
Asked if “not happy” signified “military action”, Trump answered: “I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see.”
China has pushed back at the idea that it alone holds the solution to curbing the North’s nuclear ambitions, and warned that any use of US force would only lead to “bigger disasters”.
Pope Francis this weekend called for talks to resolve the tensions.
“There are plenty of mediators in the world who are putting themselves forward. Norway, for example, which is ready to help,” he said.