S. Korea to hold drill against N. Korea threat

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea said on Thursday it would begin next week an annual, large-scale military exercise aimed at countering threats from North Korea at a time of heightened cross-border tensions.

The week-long Hoguk exercise beginning Oct 25 will involve 240,000 army, navy, air force and marine corps personnel, along with police officers, a spokesman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.

About 500 US soldiers will also take part.

Some 28,500 US personnel are stationed in the South - a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with a ceasefire but not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war.