SEOUL, March 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. and South Korean militaries have started joint exercises at various locations in South Korea, U.S. Combined Forces Command said.
The Combined Forces Command announced earlier this month that the annual Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration command-post exercise would take place from March 25 through March 31.
The defensive exercises are aimed at preparing troops to respond to external aggression, the CFC statement said. CFC also noted that the United Nations Command had alerted the Korean People's Army in North Korea to the exercises and "assured them that this is a defensive military readiness exercise, and that it is not meant to be provocative in any way."
However, North Korea responded with calls that the exercises should cease, warning that their continuation could upset the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program.
The North Korean newspaper Minju Chosun accused South Korea and the United States of "threatening" the North by staging the military exercises to prepare for an invasion, the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported Sunday.
The Chosun Ilbo said Kim Kye-kwan, North Korea's top nuclear negotiator, had urged the United States to cancel the joint drills on March 19 when the six-party talks resumed in Beijing.
The exercises were launched as planned on Sunday. The theater-wide joint and combined exercises will focus on rear area security and stability operations, onward movement of equipment, and select training events aimed at defending the Republic of Korea, the CFC statement said.
