Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), the annual joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise which is due to begin next month, has attracted the ire of North Korea, as it does every year, with Minju Chosun warning yesterday, “There is a limit to our tolerance”.
In an article entitled, ‘Do not jump in recklessly’, the publication of the North Korean cabinet also declared, “The U.S. and South Chosun warmongers’ Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercise is not a defensive exercise, it is a nuclear attack exercise aimed at the invasion of North Korea,” before cautioning, “The warmongers must not jump in recklessly, and should cancel their planned nuclear war invasion exercise immediately.”
The piece went on, “This exercise is a planned, provocative act by the warmongers aimed at finally assassinating our Republic by military means,” but added that “If the traitorous faction, in collusion with foreign powers, were to light the fire of war” then they would “learn very well what the stern gunstock of military-first Chosun really is.”
This year’s UFG, which is set to start on August 16th and include participation by around 30,000 members of the U.S. military, including 3,000 not stationed in Korea, and 56,000 members of the Republic of Korea’s armed forces, is likely to attract a great deal more North Korean criticism going forward.
Last year, for example, Rodong Shinmun declared UFG to be “the manifestation of a wicked plan to start the second Korean War by destroying peace and intensifying tensions on the Chosun Peninsula,” and warned, “South Chosun must remember that it will not be safe if it keeps provoking war.”
UFG is also regularly used by the North Korean authorities as a pretext to place the Chosun People’s Army on high alert, enabling them to also stoke domestic tensions.
