BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States and South Korea Monday began their annual joint military exercises under the code name "Ulchi Freedom Guardian," which is set to last until Aug. 31 and will mobilize as many as 56,000 South Korean and 30,000 U.S. soldiers.
The joint drills are detrimental to the regional peace and stability, and may further complicate a deteriorated situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The calculation of the United States and South Korea apparently is to keep strategic pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which has shown a defiant attitude toward them and has not committed to abandon its nuclear programs.
However, peace can't be achieved through power. Such military maneuvers have usually triggered a backlash from the DPRK, and this time isn't an exception.
The DPRK's official news agency KCNA Sunday condemned the imminent South Korea-U.S. exercises for pushing the Korean Peninsula into a "touch-and-go" situation.
More special coverages
Motorola's journey from the top
Sina Microblog
Tencent Microblog
Feedback
RSS
