US, S Korea stage live-fire drill

Pocheon, August 28

South Korean and US troops staged their biggest-ever joint live-fire drill today, including a simulated mechanised assault deep into North Korean territory, just days after the two Koreas ended a tense military standoff.

The exercise, conducted in several stages, envisaged an initial North Korean provocation, followed by an escalating clash, and culminating in a counter-attack across the border.

The drill was held near the border town of Pocheon, about 20 kilometres south of the demilitarised zone (DMZ), which splits the Korean peninsula between North and South.

“In terms of ammunition and personnel mobilised, this is the biggest live-fire exercise South Korean troops have ever staged independently or jointly with US troops,” a defence ministry spokesman said.

It involved some 3,000 US and South Korean soldiers, around 100 tanks and armoured vehicles, 120 heavy guns, 45 helicopters and more than 40 jet fighters.

It followed a recent surge in cross-border military tensions that had pushed both Koreas to the brink of an armed conflict, before a negotiated deal to de-escalate was reached on Tuesday. The drill opened with a simulated North Korean attack on a South Korean guard post.

The defence ministry’s original scenario had role-played an attack on South Korean loudspeakers blasting propaganda messages across the border, but it was revised after Tuesday’s agreement saw the South switch the speakers off. The second stage of the exercise played out a North Korean raid across the heavily fortified border. — AFP