South Korean President: Pyongyang's intensification of its experiments is a serious threat

Exercises between Washington and Seoul to respond to North Korea's use of nuclear weapons

American armored vehicles in South Korea during joint exercises.

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South Korea and the United States plan to hold joint military exercises next month as part of a scenario to respond to a possible use of nuclear weapons by North Korea, the Defense Ministry in Seoul said yesterday in its report to South Korean President Yoon Sok Yul on political missions. President this year, while "Yul" stressed that North Korea's intensification of its missile tests, and its increasing nuclear ambitions, represents a serious threat.

Among other plans, there will be 11 days of uninterrupted Korean-US exercises in the spring, a final test of a solid-fuel space rocket, and the launch of South Korea's first military observation satellite, according to Yonhap news agency.

The upcoming maneuvers are scheduled to take place in the second half of February, and the two sides agreed to hold them annually during a meeting of the two countries' defense ministers in November last year, according to the ministry.

A ministry official said that during the exercises, the two allies are expected to discuss coordinated responses to a nuclear use scenario from North Korea, including cooperation measures with the international community.

In addition, the South Korean President said, yesterday, that "North Korea's intensification of its missile tests, its increasing nuclear ambitions, and its provocative actions represent a serious threat that may lead to a miscalculation and a broader conflict."

In an interview with the Associated Press at the presidential office in the capital, Seoul, the conservative Korean president reiterated his call for "closer security cooperation with the United States and Japan to confront the dangerous situation created by North Korea," and played down the possibility of direct negotiations to covet Pyongyang, such as those he proposed. His liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in.

“We have seen miscalculations that lead to dangerous wars many times in history,” Yoon said.

North Korea's advanced nuclear arsenal poses a direct threat to the US mainland, as well as to South Korea and Japan.

The Associated Press interview, which lasted about an hour, focused on the North Korea file.

Pyongyang conducted a record number of missile tests last year, and just weeks ago it violated South Korean airspace by sending drones that flew across the border for the first time in five years, and that step prompted Seoul to respond with warning shots and send jets and special surveillance equipment across the border. .

Days later, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ushered in the new year by issuing an order to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Some experts believe North Korea's ramped up missile tests are aimed at modernizing an arsenal that Pyongyang may eventually want to use as a bargaining chip to extract sanctions relief and other concessions from the United States.

"North Korea may have its own internal reasons, but there is no way for our country or any other country to know why it has carried out such provocations," Yoon said.

"These illegal provocations may lead to our strengthening of our security capabilities and response, and further closer security cooperation with the United States and Japan," the South Korean president added.

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