South Korea to conduct military drills with U.S., develop new weapons

[webfact]

S. Korea to conduct military drills with U.S., develop new weapons
English.news.cn

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korea plans to conduct joint annual military exercises with the United States this year as scheduled despite the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's ( DPRK) call for suspension, Seoul's Defense Ministry said Monday in its annual report to President Park Geun-hye.

The "Key Resolve" command post exercise and the "Foal Eagle" field training drill will be staged in early March as planned, together with the "Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG)" computer-assisted simulation exercise, which tends to kick off in mid-August.

The announcement came after Pyongyang proposed to temporarily suspend nuclear tests if Washington halts its annual war games with Seoul in 2015, but the United States has rejected the proposal. The DPRK has called the joint military drills as a rehearsal for a northward invasion.

President Park Geun-hye said a unified Korea should be pursued based on firm security, stressing the need to expand military capability while soundly maintaining the "South Korea-U.S. allied defense posture."

Park said South Korea should urge the DPRK to "strategically" abandon its nuclear program when she received a briefing from four ministries in charge of unification, defense and foreign affairs.

The South Korean military also plans to participate in this year's Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), scheduled to be conducted in September in New Zealand to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), according to the report.

Full story: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-01/19/c_133930211.htm

-- Xinhua 2015-01-19