South Korea, U.S. begin preliminary military drills, irritating North Korea

South Korea and the United States began a preliminary military training drill Tuesday ahead of their annual summertime exercise starting next week, Yonhap News Agency reported, swiftly triggering a backlash from North Korea.Seoul and Washington have decided to carry out the four-day training exercise, focused mainly on preparing for contingencies, as planned despite a warning from Pyongyang that it will negatively affect inter-Korean relations, according to the report.The main summertime exercise, which will be computer-simulated, is scheduled to be held on Aug. 16-26. The United States, So…READ FULL ARTICLE