U.S., South Korea To Hold Joint Drills

U.S., South Korea To Hold Joint Drills

(NSI News Source Info) Seoul - March 9, 2009: South Korea and the United States will begin 12 days of joint military exercises this week, despite opposition from North Korea, officials said. Yonhap reported Sunday that Pyongyang has called on Seoul and Washington to jettison their Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills, scheduled to begin Monday for 12 days. US M1A1 Abrams tanks are driven onto a train during the Army Preposition Stocks operation drill at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, about 290 kms (180 miles) southeast of Seoul on March 5, 2009. North Korea has ordered its military to be combat ready, state media said early Monday, ahead of joint US-South Korean manoeuvres that Pyongyang has called as a prelude to war. The news service said the Key Resolve exercise is simulation-driven, defense-oriented training to help troops prepare to receive forces from bases outside the country in case of an emergency on the Korean peninsula. The U.S. military also will mobilize the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and a few Aegis destroyers for the exercises. The drills are aimed at improving the capability of the combined forces to defend South Korea from outside attack, said an official at the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command in Seoul.