FOREIGN POLICY/MILITARY/NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA: “A new cycle of escalation on the Korean Peninsula looked set to begin this week as the U.S. and South Korea kicked off annual military exercises that have a history of enraging Pyongyang.
The long-planned drills follow weeks of belligerent rhetoric between the U.S. and North Korea that stoked fears of a catastrophic outcome. In what many saw as a slight easing of tensions last week, dictator Kim Jong Un said he would hold off for now before deciding whether to carry out a threat, announced days earlier, to fire missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.
The 10-day drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian, will test whether North Korea’s apparent easing of its immediate threat to Guam proves durable—or if the de-escalation was really a backdown at all.
U.S. officials have long said the exercises are intended to ensure readiness for a possible North Korean attack. Pyongyang, though, has characterized them as preparation for an invasion.”
-Jonathan Cheng, “War Games Begin as U.S., South Korea Brace for North’s Fury,” The Wall Street Journal online, Aug. 20, 2017 11:20pm