Joint military drills kick off despite Pyongyang's protest

The Republic of Korea and the United States kicked off their annual joint military drills on Monday, despite Pyongyang's strong protests and warnings of a serious security crisis.

The exercise will be held for nine days, but there will be no live field training. It will mostly consist of defensive, computer-simulated command post training with minimum personnel, said the ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The number of participating troops will be restricted in consideration of the COVID-19 situation, with the scale of the joint exercise smaller than one held in March, reported Yonhap News Agency.

The move came just days after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's strong condemnations last week, accusing Seoul and Washington of pressing ahead with the war games despite its efforts for dialogue and peace.

Kim Yo-jong, vice-department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, accused the ROK on Aug 10 of "perfidious behavior" for going ahead with the exercise. Another senior official said a day later that Seoul and Washington are risking "serious security crisis" by choosing to escalate tensions instead of improving relations.

According to Yonhap, Pyongyang has since refused to answer the ROK's routine calls on the inter-Korean hotlines, which were reactivated on July 28 after Pyongyang severed them a year ago amid deteriorating ties.

Zhan Debin, an international relations professor at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, said Pyongyang was testing how much the ROK will give in order to improve bilateral ties.

'Wise, flexible'

On Aug 2, the ROK said it will deal with the issue of joint military drills with its allies in a "wise" and "flexible" manner so as to not heighten tensions with Pyongyang, a day after Kim warned that the move will cloud inter-Korean relations.

ROK President Moon Jae-in wants warm relations with its neighbor as a way of gaining momentum for his party in next year's general elections, Zhan said.

However, the US needs the drills for both strategic and tactical reasons and there is really no choice for the ROK but to compromise.

Li Chengri, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Pyongyang and Washington are trying to feel each other out, and it remains to be seen whether the situation on the Korean Peninsula will further deteriorate.

Li said Washington needs to make practical moves if it wants any progress on this issue, adding that Moon will likely seek to mediate a breakthrough between the ROK and the US.

Agencies contributed to this story.