US and South Korean troops kicked off their annual drills on Monday that come after President Donald Trump and North Korea exchanged warlike rhetoric in the wake of the North’s two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month.
The Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills are largely computer-simulated war games held every summer and have drawn furious responses from North Korea, which views them as an invasion rehearsal.
Pyongyang’s State media on Sunday called this year’s drills a “reckless” move that could trigger the “uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war.”