SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korean and U.S. forces kicked off their joint annual war game on Monday despite strong backlashes from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The annually-held Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) will be conducted from Aug. 22 to Sept. 2, Combined Forces Command said in a press release.
The computer-assisted simulation exercise will mobilize about 25,000 U.S. troops, including 2,500 reinforcements from the U.S. mainland and the U.S. Pacific Command. It was lower than last year's 30,000 U.S. forces.
From the South Korean side, some 50,000 forces will join the military exercise. It was almost the same as last year's.
The combined forces will reportedly apply Operation Plan 5015 to this year's UFG exercise. The OPLAN 5015 is a wartime joint defense scenario signed in June last year between Seoul and Washington to preemptively destroy the DPRK's nuclear and missile bases in times of military conflicts.
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