Joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea continue today. In their latest simulation… battle with North Korean troops involving weapons of mass destruction.

The drills aim at testing the allies' defense readiness, and have been held for decades without major incident.

[General Walter Sharp, Commander, U.S. Army]:

"We do bring from the United States some unique expertise in our task force elimination that focuses very much on this specific task."

The two Koreas are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.

General Sharp says 8,000 weapons of mass destruction experts and other troops join the 10,000 strong force already stationed in the South.

[General Walter Sharp, Commander, U.S. Army]:

"They are here for this exercise and if we ever went to war, they would naturally come also."

South Korea's Defense Ministry says about 20,000 of its troops will participate in the drills.