South Korea and the US conduct their first exercises to integrate their nuclear and conventional capabilities

Aug. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The South Korean and US militaries concluded three days of military exercises on Thursday aimed at integrating South Korean conventional forces with US nuclear capabilities in the first such exercises at a time of heightened military tension on the Korean peninsula.

Both Seoul and Washington have held the exercises to “better respond to North Korean nuclear threats” and to enhance their deterrence capabilities, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

However, the US military has denied that it will include a scenario of a nuclear attack by Pyongyang in its next major military exercises, scheduled for this August.

In recent weeks, bilateral tensions have escalated, including the exchange of propaganda balloons and rubbish. Seoul has also resumed broadcasting propaganda via loudspeakers at the border, which it did for the first time in six years on 9 June, while it has also restarted live-fire exercises near the common border.

North Korean authorities have also stepped up their launches of ballistic missiles and other projectiles, in what they describe as a warning against Seoul’s actions and its joint maneuvers with Washington. Both countries are still technically at war, since the Korean War (1950-1953) ended with an armistice, with no peace agreement to date.