Just two days after North Korea's test-firing of a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile, defense officials in Seoul said Tuesday that the United States would send key strategic assets to the South for joint military exercises scheduled for next month, a report said.
"The two sides have agreed to send such weapons as the F-22 stealth fighter and a nuclear-powered submarine to the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises in March," the South's Yonhap news agency quoted a defense official as saying.
This year's joint exercises, which are held annually, have been touted as the "biggest ever," and are likely to stoke anger in Pyongyang, which regards them as preparations for war on the Korean Peninsula.