SEOUL, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- More than 80,000 South Korean and U.S. troops began annual war games Monday against a backdrop of ongoing threats by North Korea.
The training exercises, which this year involve 56,000 South Korean soldiers and about 30,000 U.S. troops, have taken place every year since 1975. However, the North said it sees them as preparation for an invasion of the communist nation.
"Our military and people will wield the iron hammer of a merciless counter-blow," leaders of the North Korean army said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Sunday suggested a "reunification tax" to pay costs expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars for reunification with the North.
"Reunification will definitely come," Lee said in a speech marking the 65th anniversary of the Koreans' liberation from Japanese colonial rule. "I believe that the time has come to start discussing realistic policies to prepare for that day such as a reunification tax."
Relations between the two Koreas worsened in March when the South accused the North of torpedoing a South Korea warship, killing 46 sailors.
