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Members of Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea hold a press conference to oppose the annual joint exercise between the South Korean and U.S. militaries called Key Resolve in front of the war command post of the Combined Forces Command located in Sungnam City, Gyeonggi Province, March 8.

Key Resolve, which began on the same day, has received intense criticism from North Korea. The North Korean army issued a statement in which it ordered its army forces to assume a battle position in response to the Key Resolve exercise on March 7.

Key Resolve is the name that was given to the exercise in 2008 previously known as RSOI, which stands for Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, Integration.

The South Korea and the U.S. have called the exercise a defense drill, however, North Korea has labeled it training for an invasion.

Photo by Shin So-yeong/The Hankyoreh