US and S. Korean troops start drills amid N. Korea standoff
SEOUL – US and South Korean troops kicked off their annual drills Monday, on the heels of President Donald Trump and North Korea exchanging warlike rhetoric in the wake of the North's two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month.
The Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills are largely computer-simulated war games held every summer and have drawn furious responses from North Korea, which views them an invasion rehearsal. On Sunday, Pyongyang's state media called this year's drills a "reckless" move that could trigger the "uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war."
Despite the threat, US and South Korean militaries launched this year's 11-day training on Monday morning as scheduled. The exercise involves 17,500 American troops and 50,000 South Korean soldiers, according to the US military command in South Korea and Seoul's Defense Ministry.
