SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.
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(LEAD) Allies to resume large-scale amphibious drills next week after 5-year hiatus
SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States plan to kick off their first large-scale amphibious landing exercise in five years next week, in a show of the allies' "overwhelming" military capabilities, the Navy and Marine Corps here said Friday.
The Ssangyong training is set to take place in and around Pohang, 272 kilometers southeast of Seoul, from Monday through April 3 to enhance the allies' combat readiness and interoperability, according to the armed services. "Ssangyong" means double dragon in Korean.
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(7th LD) Yoon announces 'complete normalization' of military intel-sharing pact with Japan
TOKYO -- President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday he agreed to "completely normalize" a military intelligence-sharing pact between South Korea and Japan to better respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Yoon made the remark after a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, referring to the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) that Seoul's previous administration threatened to suspend amid a bilateral dispute over wartime forced labor.
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U.S. condemns N. Korea's ballistic missile launch, calls on Pyongyang to engage in dialogue: State Dept.
WASHINGTON -- The United States condemns North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch, a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday, calling it a threat to international peace and security.
State Department press secretary Ned Price also called on North Korea to refrain from further provocations and engage in sustained dialogue.
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(2nd LD) Key S. Korea-U.S. military exercise begins; N. Korea likely to respond with more provocations
SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States kicked off a regular combined military exercise Monday amid heightened tensions caused by North Korea's missile tests and hardening rhetoric against the allies.
The computer simulation-based Freedom Shield (FS) exercise began its 11-day run under "realistic" scenarios reflective of the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats, Seoul officials said. It is to proceed with the concurrent field training exercise, called the Warrior Shield.
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