U.S., South Korea Conduct Military Drills [View All]

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea and the United States began joint military exercises on Saturday amid angry protests by North Korea, which has denounced the annual exercises as preparations for a pre-emptive nuclear attack.

About 25,000 U.S. troops and an undisclosed number of South Korean soldiers will participate in the weeklong exercises, which involve a computer-simulated war game and field exercises aimed at improving U.S. and South Korean forces' defense capabilities, according to the U.S. military command.

"The purpose of the drill is defensive," said Kim Yong-kyu, a spokesman for the U.S. military command in Seoul, dismissing as "nonsense" North Korea's claims that the military exercises are preparations to invade the communist state.

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