DPRK condemns US-S. Korea military exercise

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has strongly condemned an
joint-military exercise conducted by US and South Korean troops.

The two allies conducted large-scale annual assault exercises for 12 days in
March. That prompted an angry reaction from the DPRK.

South Korean soldiers run as U.S. Army's Aviation Brigade HU-1 Huey takes off during the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise in Mungyeong, south of Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 31, 2009.(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In response, Pyongyang announced repeated halts in cross-border traffic. On
Tuesday, Pyongyang said the US and South Korea had carried out about 190 spy
flights over its territory in March.

Among them, off the northeast coast of the DPRK, close to a proposed DPRK
rocket launch site. Further fueling tensions, hundreds of US and South Korean
troops conducted an air assault exercise on Tuesday.

Both the US and South Korea say the military exercise is unrelated to the
DPRK's planned rocket launch.

Meanwhile, in a statement carried by the DPRK's official Korean Central News
Agency Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea has slammed
the South for considering taking part in the Proliferation Security
Initiative.

That's a US-led international campaign aimed at stopping the spread of
weapons of mass destruction.

A South Korean soldier rappels from a UH-1H helicopter
during the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise in
Mungyeong, southeast of Seoul, March 31, 2009.
REUTERS/Lee Jae-huck/Yonhap