By Xinhua
Seoul : South Korea and the US Sunday launched a six-day massive joint military exercise despite Pyongyang’s strong opposition.
A large portion of the 650,000-strong South Korean troops and around 18,000 US troops will participate in the “Key Resolve” exercise Sunday to Friday, Yonhap News Agency quoted military officials as saying. The joint military exercise will be held across South Korea.
Six thousand US troops from the American mainland and Pacific bases are also participating in the exercise.
The “Key Resolve” exercise will replace the RSOI drills (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration) and is designed to provide training for the South Korean-US Combined Forces Command (CFC).
The training will cover various aspects of the RSOI from bases outside South Korea, CFC said in a statement last month.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has warned against the joint military drills, accusing South Korea and the US that it is meant to invade DPRK.
The San Diego-based USS Nimitz, a 93,000-tonne US aircraft carrier, which can accommodate over 6,000 crew members and more than 100 aircraft, has arrived in South Korea to participate in the drill.
It is the first time that the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier participates in the joint military exercise.
According to the report, the USS Nimitz, the world’s largest of its kind, is accompanied by five other ships, including the nuclear-powered US submarine USS Ohio, two US Aegis destroyers, the 8,300-tonne USS John S. McCain and the 9,200-tonne USS Chaffee.