South Korea, US to conduct military drills next month

South Korea and the US will start their annual military drills next month, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday, citing Seoul's military officials. The computer-based simulation, called Key Resolve, will be held for two weeks in late February to early March to improve the combined forces' operation and combat capabilities to deter threats from the North, the report said. "This exercise is one of two major annual combined exercises on the Korean peninsula. Key Resolve focuses on crisis management and command and the control of alliance forces," the Combined Forces Command said in a release, without giving details. Following Key Resolve, a joint field training exercise called Foal Eagle will run through the end of April to test the combat readiness of South Korea and US forces. The large-scale drills are expected to draw a strong response from the North, which has routinely denounced them as a practice invasion, according to the report. On Thursday, Pyongyang rejected Seoul's proposal to hold reunions of families separated after the Korean War, citing recent military drills in South Korea and its separate joint military exercises with the US scheduled in spring. Although Pyongyang has routinely called the annual training a rehearsal for a northward invasion, its rhetoric turned more hostile last year under young leader Kim Jong-un, even threatening nuclear strikes against the South and the US. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin earlier predicted the high probability of North Korean provocations between late January and early March, apparently mindful of unprovoked attacks in response to the drills. About 28, 500 US troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War that ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.