PRIME TIME NEWS 22:00
President Park Geun-hye calls North Korea′s recent landmine blasts ′a clear military provocation′... as South Korea and the U.S. kick off a joint military exercise.
More revelations over Japan′s wartime atrocities...
China reveals a document that shows the Japanese military forced two-thousand Korean women to work as sex slaves in the 1940s.
Lotte Holding′s shareholders back the founder of Lotte′s younger son as he fights his brother for control of the corporation.
Hello... and welcome to Prime Time News... on this Monday, August 17th.
I′m Hwang Ji-hye.
And I′m Daniel Choy.
Thanks for joining us.
Title: S. Korea, U.S. begin Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises
South Korea and the United States launched their combined military exercise today, known as the Ulchi Freedom Guardian.
And North Korea ratchets up tensions between the two Koreas... by resuming a loudspeaker campagin against the South.
Kim Hyun-bin starts us off.
The Ulchi Freedom Guardian,... which will run through August 28th,... is aimed at helping the allies better react to the wide range of threats posed by Pyongyang.
The drills involve about 50-thousand South Korean and 30-thousand American troops in a wargame that simulates a North Korean invasion.
Officials say Pyongyang was informed of the allies′ plans on Saturday through loudspeakers at Panmunjom, the truce village inside the DMZ.
North Korea has a history of condemning the drills,... calling them practice for an invasion of the North.
This year is no different as Pyongyang threatened over the weekend to take strong military counteractions against the U.S. if the drills proceed.
"In response to the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, we will take intense and appropriate counter-attack measures."
North Korea has also resumed anti-Seoul broadcasts at the border,... further heightening tensions between the two Koreas.
The move is seen as a response to South Korea bringing back anti-Pyongyang broadcasts. The South started sending messages across the border with loudspeakers after two South Korean soliders were injured by landmines in the DMZ.
A South Korean military official says... the North′s broadcasts are aimed at preventing its people from hearing the South′s anti-Pyongyang broadcast,... rather than conveying messages across the border.
South Korea′s defense ministry says it has strengthened its security level in case of any additional provocations from the North.
Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News.
Title: President Park highlights strong deterrence against N. Korean threats
On this first day of the joint military drill, President Park Geun-hye chaired a Cabinet meeting, where she highlighted South Korea′s strong deterrence in the face of continuing security threats from North Korea.
Choi You-sun reports.
President Park Geun-hye has said North Korea illegally crossed the DMZ to plant landmines, which recently exploded and injured two South Korean soldiers.
She then called t
