North Korea on Thursday reacted to the start of U.S.-South Korean war drills with a fiery rhetoric. Annual military drills between Seoul and Washington has always riled Pyongyang. This year’s drills began on Wednesday.
The North will “mercilessly foil the nuclear war racket of the aggressors with its treasured nuclear sword,” said an unidentified spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army.
There is a renewed worry in Seoul and Washington because North Korea test-launched a new intermediate-range missile in February. It also conducted two nuclear tests last year.
South Korea’s military said later Thursday that it will “resolutely” punish North Korea if provoked.
The ongoing drills are a field training that will run until late April.
The United States has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against a potential aggression from North Korea.
