After A Year's Hiatus, Seoul Resumes Usual Military Drill

After a year of scaled-down military exercises intended to signal a desire for better relations with North Korea, the government will return to readiness drills of the type that had been customary before 2000.

"Civil servants will participate as before in two groups in the Ulchi exercise, and the armed forces will be mobilized as planned for the Focus Lens exercise," a Defense Ministry official said.

Ulchi is planned for Aug. 20 to 25 and the Focus Lens will run from Aug. 27 to 31.

Last year, in a bid to placate Pyong-yang, the government's Emergency Planning Committee banned combat ex-ercises and the mobilization of students and civilians. Part of the exercise was re-placed with picture simulation. Provincial governments were forbidden to denounce the North publicly or display any announcement about the exercise.

"Of the different exercises, we have decided to include the rear regional exercise, for which reserves are mobilized, with the Eagle exercise held in the fall," the officer said.

As the Combined Forces Command's annual command post exercise held since 1976, Ulchi simulates the conversion of the government to wartime structures. Focus Lens is a military exercise to evaluate and improve combined and joint coordination procedures, plans and systems.

The exercise is aimed at demonstrating military interoperability between the Republic of Korea and the United States.

by Kim Min-seok