MOSCOW (Sputnik) — UFG, a 12-day annual military exercise conducted by South Korea, the United States and a number of their allies, is aimed at testing the South's readiness to counter an invasion from the North.
Earlier in August, the confrontation between the North and the South worsened following an incident in a South Korean military patrol zone, where North Korea allegedly detonated anti-personnel box mines, injuring two South Korean soldiers.
Seoul said Pyongyang was behind in the incident, burying the mines to trigger a "pre-planned military provocation." North Korea denied the accusations and threatened that it would respond with "the strongest military counteraction" should the drills continue.
According to the agency, some 80,000 South Korean and U.S. troops are expected to take part in the exercise.
Seoul and Pyongyang signed a ceasefire after the 1950-1953 Korean War, but the two Koreas formally remain in a state of war.
