U.S., South Korea Kick Off Military Drills Amid Tensions With Pyongyang

U.S. and South Korean troops began their annual military drills on Monday amid heightened tensions with North Korea. The mostly computer-simulated war games, called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills, were met with scorn by Pyongyang, where state media warned on Sunday that the exercises could lead to an “uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war.” The drills will see 17,500 American troops and 50,000 South Korean troops spend 11 days training together, just days after North Korea threatened to launch a missile strike on the U.S. territory of Guam. South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in on Monday warned North Korea not to use the drills as an excuse to launch a fresh provocation after test-launching two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month.