North Korea prepares for major military exercise

North Korea is preparing for a major military exercise amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula, a report says.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said on Sunday that the drill would be held near North Korea’s western port of Nampo.

The military exercise involves North Korean artillery units and air force jets, Yonhap cited a South Korean government source, whose name was not mentioned. “It appears that the scale of the drill will be quite big,” the source stated.

The Korean Peninsula has been locked in a cycle of escalating military rhetoric following the participation of nuclear-capable US B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers in recent joint drills in the region by the United States and South Korea. The joint military exercises began on March 1 and will last through April 30.

On April 15, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Washington was open to talks with North Korea if Pyongyang takes “meaningful steps” to honor its international commitments.

Pyongyang has described Washington’s willingness for dialogue as an attempt to unilaterally disarm North Korea.

North Korea has rejected a call by the South to hold formal talks about reopening the Kaesong joint industrial complex. Seoul says it will take “significant measures” if Pyongyang turns down its offer of talks.

“If North Korea rejects our proposal… we have no choice but to take significant measures,” South Korean Unification Ministry Spokesman Kim Hyung-seok has stated.

Seoul announced on April 26 that it would withdraw all the remaining workers from the complex for security reasons. North Korea withdrew its entire workforce and suspended operations at Kaesong earlier in April.

Yonhap also quoted another South Korean official as saying that North Korea may try to “fan military tension” after South Korea withdraws all the remaining workers from Kaesong, which was built in 2004.