Posted on 02/26/2010 12:42:42 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The United States and South Korea will go ahead next month with a major annual military exercise set to anger North Korea but fewer US troops than last year will take part, officials said Thursday.
North Korea denounces the exercise and other annual military drills in the South as a rehearsal for invasion, a claim denied by Seoul and Washington. The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercise, slated for March 8-18, will draw 18,000 US troops including 10,000 stationed in South Korea and 8,000 from abroad, said Combined Forces Command spokesman Kim Yong-Kyu.
Some 26,000 US troops took part in the exercise last year.
“An aircraft carrier which came last year will not participate this time,” the spokesman said, adding that the scaling-down of the exercise was governed only by operational considerations.
The defence ministry gave no figure for the number of South Korean troops taking part but said an army corps, naval fleets and wings of the air force would be involved.
The US-led United Nations Command has already informed the North about the exercise dates and their routine nature.
(Excerpt) Read more at armybase.us ...
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