Noting OPLAN 5015 aimed at a preemptive attack on the north will be applied to the drill, the commentary said the possibility of an armed clash is increasing on the Korean peninsula due to the war rehearsal.

It went on:

The U.S. and the south Korean authorities are claiming that U.S. strategic weaponry will not be deployed on the peninsula, terming the drill "annual and defensive one."

But the "tailored deterrence strategy" and the "4D operation plan" aimed at a preemptive attack on the north in contingency, which will be applied to the drill, are not defensive at all but offensive.

Recalling the U.S. staged muscle-flexing by getting its strategic bombers forward-deployed on Guam for sorties, the commentary queried whether the drill launched against that backdrop can be termed defensive.

Noting it is going to deploy THAAD under the pretext of "north's counteraction", it said this can never help defuse the danger of a nuclear war on the peninsula.

It urged the regime to present a policy for halting Ulji Freedom Guardian, though belatedly, in order to bring about a phase of repairing the frozen south-north ties and creating the atmosphere for achieving durable peace on the peninsula.