NK weekly-external news
Summary of external news of North Korea this week
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.
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S. Korea, U.S. to hold 'Freedom Shield' exercise next month
SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States will hold a regular springtime combined military exercise next month under "realistic" scenarios reflecting North Korea's nuclear and other threats, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday.
In a briefing to the National Assembly's defense committee, the ministry said the 11-day Freedom Shield (FS) exercise is scheduled to proceed without a break, alongside concurrent large-scale field drills, including the Ssangyong amphibious landing exercise. It is to be preceded by a four-day crisis management exercise.
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S. Korea to launch 1st military surveillance satellite in November
SEOUL -- South Korea plans to launch its first military surveillance satellite in November under a project to deploy a total of five such satellites by the mid-2020s, the state arms procurement said Friday.
In a briefing to the National Assembly's defense committee, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) unveiled the plan to launch an electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) satellite under the project worth 1.2 trillion won (US$927 million).
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S. Korea, U.S. to hold 'table-top' exercise next week against N. Korean nuke threats
SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States will stage a combined military exercise at the Pentagon next week under the scenario of nuclear use by North Korea, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday.
Led by the allies' Deterrence Strategy Committee, the discussion-based table-top exercise (TTX) is set to take place Wednesday (local time), according to the ministry.
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(2nd LD) U.S. reaffirms ironclad commitment to security of S. Korea in bilateral talks
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the security and defense of South Korea in talks with her South Korean counterpart Tuesday, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
Sherman also underscored the "ironclad" U.S. commitment to providing extended deterrence in a bilateral meeting with South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong, according to the ministry.
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