South Korea, US soldiers hold joint anti-terrorism exercise near Korean border

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – South Korea and US soldiers conducted a combined anti-terrorism exercise near the inter-Korean border earlier this week, local media said on Saturday.

The joint exercise was held at the Rodriguez Training Center in Pocheon, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

"The exercise, involving some 80 military police personnel from the Army's 6th Infantry Division and the Eighth U.S. Army, took place Monday," the agency said, citing an army statement.

Soldiers took part in the exercise by searching and clearing buildings, rescuing hostages, and locating and defeating terrorists, it added.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula grew again on Tuesday when South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned that the North Korean regime would be "brought to an end" if it used nuclear weapons.

"If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response from the South Korea-US alliance," Yoon said during a ceremony marking the 75th Armed Forces Day at Seoul Air Base.

Later on Thursday, North Korean state media reported that the country has enshrined its policy of increasing nuclear military capabilities in its constitution.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un praised the country's parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, for including nuclear buildup in the constitution, calling it Pyongyang's "right to exist."

He also accused the US of attempting to eliminate the North Korean state as it conducted large-scale nuclear war drills and placed nuclear assets near the Korean peninsula.

Kim described the alliance between the US, South Korea and Japan as the "worst actual threat" to his country.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid