North Korea Warns U.S. of "Merciless Strikes" amid Annual Foal Eagle

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North Korea Warns U.S. of "Merciless Strikes" amid Annual Foal Eagle
By MONEY MORNING STAFF REPORTS, Money Morning • March 14, 2017
Re: https://moneymorning.com/2017/03/14/...ney+Morning%29


North Korea warns the United States of "merciless" attacks if an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson infringes on its sovereignty or dignity…

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is scheduled to arrive in a South Korean port tomorrow. The strike group exercises, led by the ship, will then take place later in the week as part of the annual Foal Eagle joint military exercises between the South Korean and U.S. militaries.

"If [the military exercises] infringe on [North Korea's] sovereignty and dignity even a bit, its army will launch merciless ultra-precision strikes from ground, air, sea, and underwater," North Korean state news agency KCNA reported this morning.

Of course, threats such as these from Pyongyang are not at all unheard of…

"North Korea Warns" Is a Regular Headline This Time of Year

North Korea issues dire warnings nearly every time the U.S. and South Korean militaries gather for exercises…

For example, Kim Jong Un's state agency denounced last year's Foal Eagle drills by claiming its military could "beat up the U.S. mainland at any time," reported VICE News on March 6, 2016.

What Is Foal Eagle?

Foal Eagle is an annual, two-month-long joint military exercise between South Korean and American military forces that's been going on since 1997. The exercise is designed to give both forces practice in the event of an invasion, while providing them with an opportunity to publically boast their combined might in the process.

To date, Foal Eagle is the largest and longest active "war game" – or wartime practice – in the world.

Foal Eagle Brings in SEAL Team 6

Pyongyang's warning today comes just 24 hours after South Korean news outlets reported that the U.S. Navy SEAL team responsible for Osama bin Laden's 2011 capture will join Foal Eagle for the first time this year.

This group of military elites will be carrying out "decapitation measures," or war drills focused on "decapitating" the leadership of the North Korean regime.

The upgrade in tactical defense measures suggests a new recognition of threat – one that the Pentagon would likewise do well to recognize.

You see, every time the "Hermit Kingdom" makes an ominous threat against the United States, the Pentagon seems to react dismissively. That could be a deadly mistake on Uncle Sam's part…

Take the North Korean missile launch on Feb. 11, for example. It coincided perfectly with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent visit to Washington and was made two days after President Donald Trump said that defending against North Korea's nuke and missile tests was a "very, very high priority" of his.

But the Pentagon reduced Pyongyang's show of aggression down to a pesky fly buzzing in America's ear: "The missile was tracked over North Korea and into the Sea of Japan," the agency said on Feb. 12. "The North American Aerospace Defense Command determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America."

And that was that.

Uncle Sam's complacency becomes more dangerous as North Korea adds weapons upgrades to its warnings…

Such was the case recently, when Washington was surprised by the detection of state-of-the-art technological advancements in one of Pyongyang's many missile tests…

Next Up: Trump's Secret Weapon Against Chinese Aggression…

Hostilities in the South China Sea now seem imminent, and the Trump administration could be on the verge of its first major crisis. But thanks to a small $6 U.S. defense firm with a top-secret new technology, China is about to be taken to the woodshed. Frankly, you have to see it to believe it…