Tensions are escalating after North Korea tested multiple missile launches recently, and a US Navy aircraft carrier strike group also entered into waters off the Korean Peninsula.
Now, South Korea is working on enhancing its readiness and further strengthening surveillance capabilities as the troops kicked off their annual Hoguk defence drills on Monday (October 17).
The drills are designed to boost their ability to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
The Hoguk defence drills come after a series of military exercises by South Korea in recent weeks, including joint activities with the United States and Japan. It is due to end on Saturday.
The most recent field training took place as North Korea continued its record pace of weapon testing this year, including Friday’s firing of a short-range ballistic missile. Reports also mentioned that it fired many artillery rounds close to the inter-Korean border.
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The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the troops will focus on maintaining readiness and improving the troops’ ability to execute joint operations during the Hoguk drills. They will be joined by some U.S forces.
It said in a statement: “The forces will conduct real-world day and night manoeuvres simulated to counter North Korea’s nuclear, missile and other various threats, so that they can master wartime and peacetime mission performance capabilities and enhance interoperability with some U.S. forces.”
When the US Navy aircraft carrier strike group entered into waters off the Korean Peninsula, the North criticised the move. The state’s foreign ministry condemned said that it posed a “serious threat” to the situation’s stability.
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