US, South Korea prepare for joint military exercise amid heightened tensions
U. S. and South Korean forces are preparing for a joint military exercise just weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to launch missiles toward Guam .
For months, the U. S. and South Korea have been planning for Ulchi Freedom Guardian, an annual exercise that will involve 14,500 U. S. service members stationed on the Korean Peninsula and an additional 3,000 who will travel to participate. It is a “computer simulated defensive exercise designed to enhance readiness, protect the region and maintain stability on the Korean peninsula, ” the Pentagon said on Friday.
The exercise, which begins on Monday, will occur amidst heightened rhetoric between Kim and President Donald Trump over the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
On August 8, Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury like the world has never seen, ” touching off a war of words between the two governments.
Kim said he would consider sending missiles into the waters off the coast of Guam in “mid-August.” Guam is a U. S. island territory that is home to two American military bases.
But, after reviewing those plans, Kim ultimately decided he would “watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees, ” seeming to walk back an imminent threat to the island and de-escalating tensions on the Peninsula — at least for now.
