South Korea and the United States began their annual joint military exercises on Monday. But they paused live-fire training while Seoul investigates how two of its fighter jets mistakenly bombed a civilian area during a warm-up drill last week. The modified Freedom Shield exercise, which combines computer simulations and field training, runs through March 20. North Korea issued a government statement calling the drill a “dangerous provocative act” that increases the risks of military conflict. About 30 people were injured, two of them seriously, when two South Korean KF-16 jets mistakenly fired eight MK-82 bombs on a civilian areas in Pocheon, a town near the North Korean border. It comes amid growing tensions with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions and its alignment with Russia in President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. It is the first large-scale joint exercise since US President Donald Trump began his second term and comes amid rising tensions over North Korea’s nuke ambitions and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The North Korean Foreign Ministry reiterated Kim’s state goals for a ‘radical growth’ of his nuclear force to counter what he claims as growing threats posed by the US and its Asian allies.