S. Korea to hold war game amid tense relations with North

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military said Friday it will conduct an
annual computer-simulated war game later this month to prepare for potential
offensives from North Korea.

The July 20-23 Taegeuk Exercise is purely defensive in nature and will not be
conducted in relation to the recent nuclear and missile testing by North Korea, a
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official said.
"It is a routine exercise and does not involve any actual troop mobilization,"
said Park Sung-woo, JCS spokesman.
The exercise, which first began in 1995, only involves South Korean commanders,
including those working with the U.S. military at the Combined Forces Command, he
said.
"The U.S. is not part of the exercise," he said.
The U.S. has 28,500 troops stationed here as a deterrent against North Korea and
will retain the wartime command of South Korean troops until April 2012.
The Taegeuk Exercise will also help set the pace for an upcoming large-scale
joint annual drill, Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), between South Korea and the
U.S., Park said.
The UFG, conducted in summer, is also based on computer simulation but mobilizes
tens of thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops. North Korea routinely lambasts
it as a prelude to war.
South Korea operates 655,000 troops while North Korea has a 1.2-million-strong
military.
The two countries remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in
a truce.
North Korea on May 25 conducted its second-ever underground nuclear test and has
since test-launched a series of missiles that South Korea fears was aimed at
ratcheting up cross-border tension.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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