US and South Korea Launch 10-Day Military ExerciseThe United States and South Korea launched a huge joint military exercise Wednesday as US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived in Seoul from her two-day visit to DPRK."The Foal Eagle exercise started today for a 10-day run," an official of the US Forces in South Korea told AFP. Despite the operation's mammoth scale, both sides sought to keep the exercise low key for fear of undermining a new thaw with the North. The annual military drill involved 25,000 US troops - two-thirds of the US contingent stationed here - and an even bigger number of South Korean soldiers. Another 4,500 American soldiers based in the United States and overseas will fly into South Korea to join the operation. But US and South Korean officials have restricted media coverage of the exercises and refused to elaborate on their training schedules. South Korea and the United States have been actively seeking to end decades of enmity with the North. The two Koreas staged an historic summit four months ago and Albright has just visited the state. Under a mutual defense pact, the United States and South Korea have conducted the annual joint exercise every year since 1961. The Korean peninsula has remained one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints. |
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