U.S. WMD Disposal Unit Takes Part in Joint Drills

A U.S. unit specializing in the disposal of weapons of mass destruction took part in the joint annual South Korea-U.S. drills on March 13-23.

Sources from the Combined Forces Command also said a British bomb disposal unit took part.

A researcher at a state-funded think tank here said Tuesday this suggests the two sides "have started preparing for preemptive strikes against North Korea's nuclear and chemical weapons facilities and incapacitating its WMD facilities in a war."

Meanwhile, the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division hosted a dinner party at a camp in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province on March 23 for reinforcement troops from the U.S. mainland and British soldiers.

One of the photos the division published Monday shows Maj. Gen. Theodore Martin, the division commander, presenting a plaque of appreciation to Col. Mark Faria from the 52nd Ordnance Group of the U.S. Army.

According to military website Global Security, the 52nd Ordnance Group controls and supervises all ordnance units of the U.S. Army tasked with assessing and disposing of explosives including conventional weapons, biochemical and nuclear weapons, and improvised explosive devices.

It is not known how many contingent troops the group sent and what kind of practice they carried out here. But it seems that only a small number of members from the unit participated in the part of the exercise dubbed Key Resolve, which is a computer simulation drill.