Anchor: South Korea and the United States have kicked off a major annual military exercise with more than 200-thousand Korean and U.S. troops. North Korea has responded to the joint drill by televising its leader Kim Jong-un visiting the frontline military units responsible for the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010. Our Kim In-kyung has the details.

Report: The Key Resolve is an annual military exercise that simulates defense operations on the Korean Peninsula. The South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command says 21-hundred U.S. troops, including 800 troops stationed overseas, and 200-thousand Korean troops will take part in the exercise through March ninth.

South Korean and U.S. troops will also hold their annual tactical field training exercise, Foal Eagle, from March first to April 30th. Eleven-thousand U.S. forces and divisions of South Korean troops and their subordinate units will take part in the Foal Eagle exercise. The combined forces will carry out ground maneuver training as well as airborne, maritime, expeditionary and special operations training during the drill.

The South Korean military has mobilized all of its surveillance assets on the frontlines to monitor the North, and the Air Force's F-15K patrol jets are on standby in case of any provocations.

North Korea has strongly denounced the military exercises and is known to have ordered its frontline units to raise their alert. On Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected frontline military units along the Yellow Sea, including the Army’s Fourth Corps which launched artillery attacks on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island in November 2010. Kim has called for a powerful retaliatory strike if provoked.

The U.S. has appealed for an improvement in South-North relations during recent talks with North Korea, but it is unlikely that the North will ease its tough stance during the military exercises.

Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.