North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Saturday, after Pyongyang warned of a strong response to upcoming U.S.-South Korea military drills.
North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned under United Nations Security Council resolutions, but Pyongyang says its weapons development is necessary to counter "hostile policies" by Washington and its allies.
Allied nuclear drills, called the Deterrence Strategy Committee Tabletop Exercise, are scheduled for Wednesday at the Pentagon and will involve senior defence policymakers from both sides, Seoul's defence ministry said. The two countries are also planning a range of expanded field exercises, including live fire drills, in coming weeks and months.
Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War, which ended in an armistice rather than a full peace treaty, leaving the parties technically at war., in line with its recent restructuring of the military, state media video footage from a Feb. 9 parade suggested.
That parade displayed more ICBMs than ever before, including a possible new solid-fuel weapon, which could help the North deploy its missiles faster in the event of a war.
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