US, South Korea hold three-week joint air drills
3 Min Read
Tensions along the Korean Peninsula increase as South Korea and the US kickstart their three-week military exercises.
-
The flags of South Korea and the United States wave before a joint river-crossing drill between the two countries in Yeoju, South Korea, October 19, 2022. (AP)
South Korea and the United States launched their latest joint military air drills which aim to "sharpen" their "combat capabilities," the US military said on Thursday.
The ongoing military training is fueling the DPRK's concern about an increasing threat amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul and Washington's three-week air force drills involving US F/A-18 and F-35B combat aircraft began on Tuesday in Suwon, the southern city of the Korean capital. Pyongyang has ultimately viewed these military training simulations as mock invasion practices.
Trump and Kim's personal relations
The DPRK responded to former US President Donald Trump's comments on Wednesday about getting “with somebody that has a lot of nuclear weapons,” referring to Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong-un, by stating it was “fully ready for all-out confrontation with the US.”
During his time in office, the Republican candidate met with Kim three times in an attempt to denuclearize the Asian country.
The initial meeting between the two leaders began at a June 2018 summit in Singapore. Trump said in a rally to his Republican supporters that the two politicians had “fallen in love.” However, the relations between Trump and Kim faltered following the Hanoi 2019 summit over sanctions relief and what the DPRK would offer in return.
Although the DPRK praised Trump's efforts to highlight the "special personal relations" with Kim in a statement released on Wednesday, the attempts "did not bring about any substantial positive change".
"Even if any administration takes office in the US, the political climate, which is confused by the infighting of the two parties, does not change and, accordingly, we do not care about this," the commentary added.
DPRK condemns drills by US, Japan, S. Korea as 'Asian NATO'
The DPRK denounced on June 30 earlier joint military drills by South Korea, Japan, and the United States, calling them an "Asian NATO" and warning of "fatal consequences," after the allies concluded a three-day exercise called "Freedom Edge," which involved ballistic missile and air defense drills, anti-submarine warfare, and defensive cyber training.
The three-day military training focused "on ballistic missile defense, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, maritime interdiction, and defensive cyber training," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said at the time.
The US Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Japan's guided-missile destroyer, JS Atago, and South Korea's KF-16 fighter jet were a few of the assets that took part in the drills.
