They are openly claiming that the exercise is aimed to increase the capability for carrying out joint operations among various army services to cope with "the north's provocation of local war."

It will reportedly involve provocative drills such as those for infiltrating into coastal areas of the north and defending the islands in the northwest waters.

Provocative nature of Hoguk has already been disclosed.

The Yonphyong Island shelling incident that pushed the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a war occurred during the Hoguk drill in 2010.

At that time the puppet forces faced a merciless punishment from the Korean People's Army while deliberately firing shells into the inviolable territorial waters of the north during the madcap exercise staged on Yonphyong Island under the pretext of defending the islands in the northwest waters.

The projected saber-rattling of the puppet military will only bring into bolder relief its true colors as the arch criminal increasing the danger of a war.