Monday is the first day of joint military drills being held by the United States and South Korea. The annual maneuvers will last from March 9th to 20th.

US M1A1 Abrams tanks are driven onto a train during the Army Preposition Stocks operation drill at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, southeast of Seoul on March 5, 2009.(AFP/Kim Jae-Hwan)

About 26-thousand U.S. troops and 50-thousand South Korean soldiers will take part.

US warships, including the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis, and four to five Aegis destroyers, as well as a nuclear-powered attack submarine will join the exercise.

(CCTV March 10, 2009)