North Korea, an annual joint military exercise with the U.S. and South Korea was briefly halted, U.S. officials said Friday.The latest developments came after North Korean leader Kim
PudgeJong-un
...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished...
declared his front-line troops were in a "quasi-state of war" and ordered them to prepare for battle against South Korea in response to an exchange of artillery fire Thursday along the border.
David Shear, assistant secretary for Asia issues, told Pentagon news hounds the U.S. commander in South Korea decided to pause the exercise after consulting with South Korean military officials. He added that commanders needed to receive briefings about Thursday's gunfire incident to make sure that both the U.S. and South Korea had "a mutual understanding of what the situation is."
U.S. forces were at an increased security status for the exercise and "are remaining on an enhanced status as part of the exercise and, of course, to ensure adequate deterrence on the peninsula," Shear said.
He said the U.S. is continuing to monitor the situation closely and is calling on Pyongyang to "refrain from actions and rhetoric that threaten regional peace and stability."
The orders from Kim came as he chaired an emergency meeting of the North's powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), according to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The Ulchi Freed Guardian Exercises 2015, which began Monday and are scheduled to run through Aug. 28, involve 30,000 U.S. troops and 50,000 South Korean troops and also include forces from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, La Belle France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, according to the U.S. Forces Korea website.The UFK notes the exercise is "planned months in advance and it is not connected to any current world events."