S. Korea, U.S. kick off joint annual war game

The forces of South Korea and the United States kicked off their joint annual war game, Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), on Monday.

The 12-day computer-assisted simulation exercise was launched amid backlashes from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK) that threatened "strong military counteraction" against what it called a rehearsal for the northward invasion.

Some 50,000 South Korean forces and 30,000 U.S. troops would be mobilized to the military drill, which South Korea claimed is defensive in nature with the aim of defending its territory.

The United Nations Command's military armistice commission on Saturday notified the DPRK of the drill schedule through loudspeakers in Panmunjom, the truce village in the border dividing the two Koreas.

The U.S.-South Korea war game came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula after two South Korean soldiers were maimed by the blast of landmines, which the South side claimed had been planted by DPRK forces on the route frequented by South Korean border guards.

The DPRK's National Defense Commission issued a statement Saturday, calling for the cancellation of the joint war game and threatening the harshest military response if the drill is conducted. The DPRK put its forces on a special alert until Aug. 28, the day when the joint drill is scheduled to end.

Adm. Choi Yun-hee, head of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), ordered operational commanders Saturday to sternly and strongly retaliate against any DPRK provocation during the joint war game. Endi