N. Korea blasts S. Korea-U.S. joint military drill

SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Sunday denounced an upcoming South
Korea-U.S. military exercise as "a maneuver for a nuclear war" and warned it will
react with "merciless retaliation."
South Korea and the United States are scheduled to stage the Ulji Freedom
Guardian exercise from Monday through Aug. 27. North Korea has typically blasted
such joint drills as war preparation, while the allies say they are purely
defensive.
"The maneuvers for a nuclear war projected by the U.S. imperialists and the Lee
Myung-bak group of traitors are by no means a demonstration of military muscle of
a defensive nature," a spokesman for the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's
Army said in a statement.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)