South Korea and the US have begun controversial annual joint military drills. The war games involving hundreds of thousands of troops are being held despite North Korea's calling it "provocation" and threatening with retaliation. The military drills, entitled Key Resolve, are starting Monday and will last until March 9. About 200000 South Korean and 2100 American troops are taking part in the war games, which involve both ground and navy forces. Separately another joint exercise, Foal Eagle, will take place between March 1 and April 20. It will include Korean and some 11000 American air forces personnel. The Combined Forces Command said the drills are "routine and defense-oriented". Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Britain are also taking part in the exercise as part of the command. Not unlike the previous years, the Communist North Korea denounced the drills, calling them "an unpardonable infringement upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK as they evidently targ! et the DPRK, which is in the mourning period." On Sunday, North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un, who succeeded his late father Kim Jong-il last year, has inspected frontline units of the country's armed forces. He called on his troops to be prepared to deliver a retaliatory strike if provoked. The South's military drills are a tricky issue amid the decades-old hostility in the region. Any massive deployment of troops cannot help but make the North's generals suspect that it could be a smokescreen for an
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