"The military drill that could cause North Korea to declare war on South Korea and the US"

2015-08-14T12:28:55-04:00

From: news.com.au

NORTH Korea has warned: A looming joint military exercise between the US and South Korea will be a “declaration of war” and it will fight back against Seoul and the White House.

The annual two-week “Ulchi Freedom” exercise, which kicks off Monday, involves tens of thousands of troops in what is a largely computer-simulated rehearsal for a North Korean invasion.

It is one of a number of annual joint drills that Washington and Seoul insist are purely defensive in nature, but which Pyongyang condemns as provocative rehearsals for a full-scale attack on the nuclear-armed North.

This year’s Ulchi Freedom comes at a time of particularly high tensions, following a recent landmine attack on a South Korean border patrol that Seoul blamed on North Korea.

The North’s foreign ministry insisted the drill should be called off immediately and warned Washington it would be responsible for “all the consequences” if it went ahead.

Pyongyang will take “all necessary measures” in the face of US “nuclear provocations,” a ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the North’s official KCNA news agency.

A separate statement by the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), which oversees cross-border issues, denounced Ulchi Freedom as a “drill for a surprise nuclear war” against the North.

“Such large-scale joint military exercises ... are little short of a declaration of a war,” the statement said, warning of the potential for an accidental military clash that could trigger an “all-out” conflict.

Striking the White House

Echoing a threat it has made repeatedly in the past, the committee said South Korea and the United States should be aware that their “strongholds of aggression and provocation” — including the White House and presidential Blue House in Seoul — were in range of the North’s “ultra-precision” military weapons.

North Korea has an extensive missile development program to complement its nuclear weapons strategy, although experts are divided on how advanced its delivery systems are.

In May, the North claimed to have successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) — a technology that could eventually offer a survivable second-strike capability.

A fully developed SLBM capability would take the North Korean nuclear threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula.

But numerous experts questioned the authenticity of the May test, saying photos of the launch might have been digitally manipulated.

And North Korea has never conducted a test to back its claim that it has a working intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the continental US.

Ulchi Freedom will kick off amid elevated cross-border tensions following the recent mine attack that maimed two South Korean soldiers.

Pyongyang has yet to react to the charge that it was responsible, but the South has already responded by resuming high-decibel propaganda broadcasts across the border, using batteries of loudspeakers that had lain silent for more than a decade.

Officials in the South say restarting the broadcasts is only the “first step” in a series of retaliatory measures.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/the-military-drill-that-could-cause-north-korea-to-declare-war-on-south-korea-and-the-us/story-fnpjxnlk [login to see] 964

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Aug 14 at 2015 12:35 PM

2015-08-14T12:35:07-04:00

They are bluffing. NK has made threats before and has not carried them out.

Response by MSgt James Mullis made Aug 14 at 2015 12:36 PM

2015-08-14T12:36:21-04:00

Really, after all these years of the massive "Team Spirit" exercises? This is just normal North Korean blustering and will be followed by a request for more food from the USAID.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Aug 14 at 2015 12:45 PM

2015-08-14T12:45:01-04:00

This happens every year. The fat kid running that country always blusters. Last year they showed a map with (straight) lines on it showing the paths of their missiles. A map that didn't account for the curvature of the earth. Which is irrelevant, because their missiles are shit and would be lucky to hit Japan.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Aug 14 at 2015 1:02 PM

2015-08-14T13:02:46-04:00

That might force us to clean house up there once and for all.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 14 at 2015 1:26 PM

2015-08-14T13:26:58-04:00

Ha! This happens like 10 times a year. We do an exercise and N. Korea threatens nuclear fall out on everyone. They did shell an island one time and I thought it was pretty weak that S. Korea did nothing. Other than that they are just a dumb bird puffing out his feathers. I would love the chance to go to N. Korea. They called the last Korean war, the forgotten war. Much respect to those veterans. I want to finish the job.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 15 at 2015 3:31 AM

2015-08-15T03:31:10-04:00

How the rest of the world feels about Kim Jong Un:

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 15 at 2015 10:25 AM

2015-08-15T10:25:53-04:00

North Korea is like a spoiled little child screaming for attention. Anytime they don't get their way, it is a “declaration of war”.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 15 at 2015 12:54 PM

2015-08-15T12:54:41-04:00

If they are smart, they won't mess with America.

Response by SGT Charles Tittl made Aug 15 at 2015 1:52 PM

2015-08-15T13:52:46-04:00

The little fat guy doesn't have the balls!

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Aug 16 at 2015 12:16 PM

2015-08-16T12:16:04-04:00

Everytime we hold military exercises with South Korea we hear this retoric out of North Korea. If they are smart they will never act on their useless threats! If they ever did we would have to bomb them back into the stone age and advise China to sit back and watch since they started it! China would get the "cheap seats" at no charge!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 20 at 2015 12:58 AM

2015-08-20T00:58:02-04:00

Well, if this is the exercise that causes the balloon to go up, then this will be one heck of a tour. I just PCS'd to Korea in time for this exercise. This is my 2nd time here and I can say this all sound familiar. Last time I was here daddy Kim was making the threats. Same stuff different Kim. I'm pretty confident that we could unite the two countries a lot quicker if the north would just step accross that line one time.

Response by PVT Mark Brown made Oct 28 at 2016 11:33 PM

2016-10-28T23:33:03-04:00

I have been through two of these exercises, one year the 82nd Airborne dropped 5000 men.

Response by SFC George Smith made Oct 29 at 2016 9:37 PM

2016-10-29T21:37:33-04:00

is that what they call Foul Eagle now...

Response by LTC Thomas (Tom) Jones made Mar 30 at 2024 8:29 AM

2024-03-30T08:29:54-04:00

Rhetoric hasn't changed in nine years.