North Korea warns against US- South Korea drills; Reports: Israel's Iron Dome short-range missile defence system intercepts Gaza rocket for first time
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  • North Korea warned on Friday that its military would not remain a "passive onlooker" if South Korea and the United States continued joint military drills, which are "provocative and aggressive nuclear war exercises", state media reported. The threat came from Ri Yong-Ho, a vice marshal of the North's armed forces, at a meeting attended by top government, military and party officials in Pyongyang. "The army and people of (North Korea) will never remain a passive onlooker to them but resolutely frustrate them with the might of Songun (army-first) which has been built up in every way," he said. This year South Korea has been staging a series of drills alone or together with U.S. troops to test its battle readiness. U.S. and South Korean troops completed computerized joint war games on March 10, but joint field training will continue throughout April."National defense is the most important affair in building a thriving nation," Ri said. Tension between the two countries has increased since 2009, over the disputed Yellow Sea border.1

    Meanwhile, reports noted that Israel's Iron Dome short-range missile defence system shot down a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the first time such an interceptor has been deployed anywhere. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the system gave Israel hope that the Jewish state could now better defend its citizens from the thousands of rockets that have been fired into Israel in recent years.” It gives hope that over time we can develop some better defence for civilians that are targeted by regimes ... deliberately targeting the innocent," said Netanyahu, who was visiting the Czech Republic. The defence system, the first of its kind in the world and still at the experimental stage, is not yet able to provide complete protection against the hundreds of rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel, officials have said. “We have deployed them in the last two weeks without actually testing them in laboratory conditions... (and) they have so far worked very well," Netanyahu said. The system, developed by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defence Systems with the help of US funding, is designed to intercept rockets and artillery shells fired from a range of between four and 70 kilometres (2.5 and 43 miles). Over the past five years, militants in Gaza and in south Lebanon have fired thousands of projectiles at the Jewish state, and Israel is planning to deploy the system along both borders. Iron Dome will join the Arrow long-range ballistic missile defence system in an ambitious multi-layered programme to protect cities from rockets and missiles fired from Lebanon or Gaza, Syria or Iran.2

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