It is not war. But on the increasingly tense Korean peninsula it certainly looks like it. US and South Korean troops have been staging a mock
ADVERTISEMENTIt is not war. But on the increasingly tense Korean peninsula it certainly looks like it.
US and South Korean troops have been staging a mock amphibious landing exercise, storming simulated North Korean beach defences.
Saturday’s landing and assault drills on South Korea’s east coast come amid eight weeks of joint military manoeuvres between the allies, described as the largest ever.
The North is furious.
As the isolated state flexes it own military muscle, under the orders of leader Kim Jong Un, it has denounced the landing drill as an enemy attempt to ‘advance into Pyongyang’ and warned of what it calls “an ultra-precision blitzkrieg strike” in return.
Kim had already told the North to be ready to use nuclear weapons.
Kim Jong Un says North Korea has mini nuclear warheads, but experts are skeptical https://t.co/ReTAVyB6kv
— TIME.com (@TIME) 9 mars 2016
Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a long-range rocket launch last month, triggering new UN sanctions.
North Korea threatens nuclear strike as U.S.-South Korea war games begin https://t.co/xFuJt5V05Npic.twitter.com/laMNY3X9eU
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) 8 mars 2016