News / Interviews

China deems ‘provocative’ US- South Korea military drills: Analyst

Sunday, 06 March 2016 7:14 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 06 March 2016 7:16 PM ]

“What is happening now in terms of the US-Korea relationship is provocative not only for North Korea, but also for China,” Jones says.

The joint military exercises between the US and South Korea is aimed at reviving Cold War alliances and are seen by China as provocative actions, says political analyst William Jones.

He made the comments in a Sunday interview with Press TV about the upcoming two parallel annual drills - Key Resolve and Foal Eagle – that will begin on Monday and involve over 300,000 South Korean troops and 15,000 US personnel.

About 2,100 US troops and a number of military warships have arrived in South Korea to partake in the war games, according to the Marine Corps Times.

Pyongyang regularly condemns the joint military exercises between Washington and Seoul as rehearsals for war against North Korea.

The US rejects any relationship between the North’s fourth nuclear test in January and its alleged satellite launch the next month, saying the drills were planned long before.

Pre-planned or not, “[the drills] always represent something of a provocative move,” Jones said.

“What is happening now in terms of the US-South Korea relationship is provocative not only for North Korea, but also for China,” the analyst said, arguing that Pyongyang was getting along with Beijing to calm the Korean peninsula before Washington floated deploying advanced missile systems to South Korea.

The US is in talks with South Korea to deploy advanced THAAD missile systems to the peninsula, to allegedly deter the threat of North’s missiles, a move Russia and China have strongly objected to.

Jones said any misstep with regards to security in the region would make a military conflict “more rather than less likely.”

He described the drills as a warning to Pyongyang, and an attempt to ultimately rebuild “old Cold War alliances,” and this goes against China’s liking which has agreed with severe countermeasures against North Korea including tougher UN sanctions.

"So I think that what is going on here, which has caused a lot of concern on the North Korean side, is also creating a certain amount of concern on the part of China since these 2,000 Marines are doing their maneuvers in an area which is quite close to the Chinese border,” Jones concluded.

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