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US-South Korea joint military exercises provocative: Analyst

Monday, 21 August 2017 1:19 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 21 August 2017 1:20 PM ]

This handout photo taken on July 29, 2017 shows South Korea's Hyunmu-2 Missile System (L) and US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) firing missiles into the East Sea from an undisclosed location on South Korea's east coast during a joint missile drill. (Photo by AFP)

The United States is escalating the situation on the Korean Peninsula by conducting joint military exercises with South Korea, says an analyst.

“By going into South Korea with these additional troops -- it is 17,500 in total -- the US side is clearly provoking a situation, which only just very recently, as recently as of last week, was de-escalated,” Adam Garrie, managing editor of theduran.com told Press TV in an interview on Monday.

“This is absolutely the wrong direction for the Korean Peninsula; this according to the people of South Korea, this according to the people of North Korea, this according to the governments of Russia and China. America is continually isolated but because of their extraordinary military power they frequently behave in manners that would imply otherwise,” he added.

South Korea and the United States have started annual joint military exercises, ignoring strong warnings from Pyongyang, which has slammed the war games as the “most explicit expression of hostility” against the North.

Tens of thousands of troops from the US and South Korea are participating in the drills, codenamed Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which kicked off on South Korean soil on Monday.

The maneuvers, which are largely computer-simulated, will run for two weeks.

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