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The U.S. State Department has approved a potential $3.5 billion sale of Apache helicopters, related equipment and missiles to South Korea, the Pentagon said Monday.
"The proposed sale will improve the Republic of Korea's capability to meet current and future threats by providing a credible force capable of deterring adversaries and participating in regional operations," the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin will be the main contractors of the deal, according to the Pentagon.
While the State Department has approved the sale to South Korea, Congress must still sign off. The announcement of the deal came on the same day the U.S. and South Korea began their annual joint military drills.
The news of the sale also came amid the growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula surrounding North Korea's growing nuclear arsenal.
About 19,000 South Korean military personnel are participating in the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills slated to run until Aug. 29. The U.S. has not provided a count of its participating personnel. The war-simulating drills and field exercises are designed to boost the allies' readiness against a North Korean attack.
"As seen in Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East, war can break out at any time," South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said, explaining why the drills are necessary. The South Korean leader has described North Korea as "the most reckless and irrational country in the world."
North Korea has regularly denounced the annual joint drills, accusing the U.S. and South Korea of practicing for an invasion of North Korea.
Pyongyang justifies its growing weapons program as a way to "maintain the balance of power for preventing a war by stockpiling the greatest deterrence."
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un mounted a massive ceremony earlier this month in Pyongyang for the delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers, reported to be destined for front-line military units.
Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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