South Korea plans to hold over 20 military drills with US next year amid rising tensions with North Korea
The military cooperation comes as North Korea continues to test long range ballistic missiles
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The South Korean and U.S. militaries are planning over 20 drills next year as North Korea has continued to escalate tensions in the region.
South Korea will be "deepening and expanding defense cooperation" with the U.S. in the hopes of preparing for nuclear threats from the north, the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said in a press release, according to a Wednesday Stars and Stripes report.
The release comes just days after North Korea resumed weapons testing Sunday, firing two ballistic missiles from the Tongchang-ri area east over international waters. According to a statement from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles were fired about 50 minutes apart and fell in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NORTH KOREA THREATENS ‘BOLD MILITARY STEPS’ AGAINST JAPAN AFTER TOKYO RAMPS UP DEFENSE SPENDING
U.S. Army soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and South Korean soldiers take their position during a demonstration of the combined arms live-fire exercise. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
The release also comes after North Korea threatened to take "bold military steps" against Japan after Tokyo announced plans to make large increases in its defense spending, with North Korea accusing Japan of attempting to return to its pre-WWII military posture.
"Japan's foolish attempt to satiate its black-hearted greed – the building up of its military invasion capability with the pretext of a legitimate exercise of self-defense rights – cannot be justified and tolerated," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman told the country's state-run media Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has promised to respond to the rising tensions in the region with six "peace through strength" initiatives, which includes increased cooperation between the South Korean and U.S. militaries.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends at a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
NORTH KOREA RESUMES WEAPONS TESTING, LAUNCHES TWO BALLISTIC MISSILES THAT LAND NEAR JAPANESE WATERS
Sunday's weapons test was the first conducted by North Korea since its test of the liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 ICBM last month, a developmental missile that is believed to be capable of reaching the entire U.S. homeland.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The South Korean Defense Ministry said that part of the plan to increase cooperation with the U.S. amid the threats is to deploy more unnamed U.S. strategic assets to the region, while the training alongside U.S. forces will emphasize realistic "combat scenarios."
Shirtless South Korean Marines and their U.S. counterparts from 3-Marine Expeditionary Force 1st Battalion from Kaneho Bay, Hawaii, run on a snow covered field during their Feb. 4-22 joint military winter exercise in Pyeongchang. (AP2013)
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The release also said that the U.S. and South Korean militaries were looking into "a variety of measures to … display the alliance’s overwhelming deterrent against North Korea" as the 70th anniversary of an end to hostilities on the peninsula approached next year.