U.S., Japan Begin Massive War Games

China condemns military exercises aimed at intimidating North Korea.

The joint U.S.-Japan war games were scheduled long before North Korea bombarded a South Korean island on Nov. 23, but are some of the largest in U.S. history and for the first time include South Korean observers. More than 44,000 troops, hundreds of jets, and a U.S. aircraft carrier have been mobilized for the exercises. China condemned the drills, saying that countries should be looking to stabilize the tense situation on the Korean peninsula rather than exacerbate it. At a parliamentary hearing yesterday, South Korea’s incoming defence minister Kim Kwan-jin said that further North Korean aggression would result in air strikes, but observers have questioned that claim because Seoul lies within easy range of North Korean missiles.