SKorea, US begin military exercise

SEOUL: Tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops kicked off a large-scale military exercise Monday simulating an all-out attack by North Korea, which has condemned the joint drill as a “declaration of war.”

The annual Ulchi Freedom exercise, which the defense ministry said would run through August 28, is largely computer-simulated, but still involves 50,000 Korean and 30,000 US soldiers.