South Korea, US troops conclude largest military drill

The US and the South Korean troops on Friday concluded their annual military exercise known as "Ulchi Freedom Guardian," a series of mainly computer-simulated drills involving an estimated 80,000 troops, CNN reported.

The Korean radio said that 50,000 South Korean and 30,000 American troops took part in the exercise that mainly aims to simulate the defense of South Korea from an attack by the North.

Swiss and Swedish soldiers belonging to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission monitored the exercise to ensure that it complied with the Armistice Agreement.

Military authorities of the two nations are also known to have applied the new Operations Plan (OPLAN) 5015 during the military exercise.

OPLAN 5015 focuses on preemptive strikes on North Korea’s weapons of massive destruction such as missiles as well as nuclear and biochemical weapons.

The new OPLAN is also said to reflect how the two nations will respond to the North’s deployment of infiltration forces, which was revealed in the recent crisis following the North's provocations.

Source: MENA