North Korea threatens military response drills

South Korea said it will conduct joint tabletop exercises with the United States on Feb. 22, in addition to regular joint military exercises next month. Officials in North Korea on Friday called the drills “preparations for an aggression war” and threatened an “unprecedentedly strong” response. Next week’s tabletop exercises will involve senior policy-makers from both countries. They aim to improve the strategic use of U.S. nuclear assets to deter North Korean nuclear threats.

What are other indicators that tensions in the region have risen? South Korea issued its biennial defense white paper Thursday, which described North Korea as its enemy for the first time in six years. The document also reported an increase in Pyongyang’s stockpile of weapons-grade plutonium. Seoul has historically avoided directly calling North Korea an enemy in an effort to promote peace.

Dig deeper: Listen to Josh Schumacher’s report in The World and Everything in It podcast about what the North Korean military has planned.