bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agencies

North Korea warned that the United States will be “pouring gasoline on fire” by conducting an annual war game in the South this week amid heightened tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.
Combative rhetoric between the nations spiked after Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) last month that appeared to bring much of the US within range, sparking an intense warning by US President Donald Trump that Washington could rain “fire and fury” on the North.
Pyongyang then threatened to fire a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam - a plan that leader Kim Jong-un last week delayed, but warned could go ahead depending on Washington’s next move.
Watch: US jets keep close watch on North Korea


Amid the fiery volley of threats, Seoul and Washington began Monday the “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” (UFG) joint military exercises involving tens of thousands of troops that Pyongyang views as a highly provocative rehearsal for invasion.
“The joint exercise is the most explicit expression of hostility against us, and no one can guarantee that the exercise won’t evolve into actual fighting,” said an editorial carried by the North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
“The Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercises will be like pouring gasoline on fire and worsen the state of the peninsula,” the paper said.

Warning of an “uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war” on the peninsula, it added: “If the United States is lost in a fantasy that war on the peninsula is at somebody else’s doorstep far away from them across the Pacific, it is far more mistaken than ever.”
Seoul and Washington have said the largely computer-simulated UFG exercise, which dates back to 1976, will go ahead as planned, but did not comment on whether the drills would be scaled back in an effort to ease tensions.
During the 2015 Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises, North Korea and South Korea exchanged artillery and rocket fire over their border. That exchange came after two South Korean soldiers were maimed stepping on land mines in the Demilitarised Zone. South Korea accused North Korean soldiers of sneaking across the border and planting the land mines.

China and Russia have been urging the United States to consider a “freeze for freeze” agreement to reduce tensions. In such a deal, Pyongyang would agree to suspend its tests of missiles and nuclear weapons, and Washington and Seoul would agree to suspend large-scale military exercises.
Around 17,500 US troops will participate in this year’s drills - a cutback from last year - according to numbers provided by Seoul’s defence ministry.
But South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported the allies were mulling scrapping an initial plan to bring in two aircraft carriers to the peninsula to take part in the drill.
South Korea’s top military officer said Sunday that the current security situation on the peninsula was “more serious than at any other time” amid the North’s growing nuclear and missile threats, and warned Pyongyang of merciless retaliation against any attack.
“If the enemy provokes, (our military) will retaliate resolutely and strongly to make it regret bitterly,” said General Jeong Kyeong-doo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his inauguration speech.
Agence France-Presse, Tribune News Service


Is China changing tack and accepting North Korea as a nuclear-armed state?

Welcome to a world where wars don’t end and sanctions don’t work

Senators unveil bill to keep Trump from easing curbs on AI chip sales to China

Can Seoul count on Beijing’s commitment to Korean reunification?

North Korea

US-South Korea war games start as Pyongyang warns of ‘actual fighting’

Seoul and Washington have said the largely computer-simulated exercise, which dates back to 1976, will go ahead as planned,

FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2010 file photo, South Korean army soldiers hold their weapons during an anti-terror exercise carried out as part of Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, against possible attacks from North Korea in Seoul, South Korea. Tensions between the United States and North Korea tend to flare up suddenly and then fade away almost as quickly, but the latest escalation won't likely go away quite so easily. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man, File)

FILE- In this Aug. 18, 2010, file photo, South Koreans wearing gas masks escape from a mock smoke attack during an anti-terror exercise carried out as part of Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, against possible attacks from North Korea in Seoul, South Korea. The Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills set to begin Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 will be the first joint military exercise between the allies since North Korea successfully flight-tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July and threatened to bracket Guam with intermediate range ballistic missile fire in August. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

South Korean army soldiers conduct an anti-terror drill during the 2016 Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise. File photo: AP

Trump or Kim: Who are you calling crazy? A dilemma in Japan

Just as the Japanese were getting used to dealing with one unpredictable nuclear-armed leader ... along comes another

Who’s crazier: Trump or Kim Jong-un? Photo: AP

This general view shows the area near the main gate of the United States Navy Fleet Activities Yokosuka, the US naval base at Yokosuka in Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, on June 18, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Kazuhiro NOGI

South Korean protesters hold a banner reading "Stop! UFG (Ulchi-Freedom Guardian joint military exercise)" as they march towards the US embassy during an anti-US rally demanding peace in the Korean Peninsula in Seoul on August 15, 2017. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said on August 15 he would hold off on a planned missile strike near Guam, but warned the highly provocative move would go ahead in the event of further "reckless actions" by Washington. / AFP PHOTO / JUNG Yeon-Je

A television broadcast shows Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressing the nation after a ballistic missile was launched by North Korea. Photo: AFP

US vows ‘immediate and specific action’ to intercept missiles if North Korean fires at allies

The comments by US defence chief James Mattis came as Washington and Pyongyang appeared to start toning down their mutual military threats

James Mattis, US secretary of defence, right, speaks to Itsunori Onodera, Japan's defence minister, after a news conference during a security committee meeting at the State Department in Washington. Photo: Bloomberg

News

Asia

East Asia

Seoul and Washington have said the largely computer-simulated exercise, which dates back to 1976, will go ahead as planned,
