The puppet warmongers said that they would stage joint firing exercises in a drill ground in Phochon of Kyonggi Province with tanks, artillery pieces, F-15K fighter bombers and other war equipment involved.

They noted that "the exercises were aimed to boost the joint operation capacity of ground and air combat power under a system for making a real time detection of enemy's movements and striking them."

Meanwhile, the puppet Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that it would stage maritime exercises of the navy's first fleet in the East Sea of Korea from Dec. 22 to 25, according to CBS of south Korea.

Six warships belonging to the command of the first fleet, helicopters and other huge forces are set to stage madcap exercises for a war against the DPRK. The exercises include an anti-submarine exercise and naval bombardment drill under the pretext of coping with enemy's maritime infiltration and provocation of a local war."

The warmongers, however, are claiming that the planned exercises are "a regular drill of an individual fleet" and "they have nothing to do with the Yonphyong Island incident" in a bid to conceal the provocative and offensive nature of the exercises.