North Korea holds military drills despite international diplomatic efforts
(Baonghean.vn) - On May 31, intelligence sources said that North Korea conducted a large-scale maritime exercise in the East China Sea, even as South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on May 26 and US officials met with their North Korean counterparts a day later at the truce village of Panmunjom.
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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AP |
According to intelligence sources, North Korea conducted live-fire drills in the waters off Wonsan City, Kangwon Province from May 25 to 27, and the size of the fleet participating in the drills was even larger than in previous years.
Some of the explosions were large enough to cause small earthquakes, and intelligence officials are now trying to determine whether a new type of anti-submarine bomb was involved in the exercise.
Meanwhile, the North Korean leader still welcomed President Moon at Tongilak building in the Panmunjom truce village, and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui held talks with US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim to discuss the agenda for the upcoming US-North Korea summit.
North Korean state media even "loudly" asked the US and South Korea to cancel the annual joint military exercise scheduled to take place next August.
“North Korea has been conducting exercises at the same level as in previous years since December,” an intelligence official said. Some of the exercises have been scaled back, possibly because Kim Jong-un is not present.
Meanwhile, Seoul has shown a humble attitude to avoid provoking Pyongyang, rearranging and reducing the scale of annual joint military exercises, and asking Washington not to send B-52 bombers to the Korean peninsula./.
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