The Wall Street Journal reports that “a new study shows how North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un uses semiannual joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea to bolster internal support for his regime and to raise pressure on the U.S. to withdraw from the peninsula by heightening tensions with missile tests and threats.”

“As four days of joint military exercises (kicked) off on Monday, research by the Washington, D.C.-based think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies, shows that the U.S.-South Korea drills passed for years with little or no military response from Pyongyang.”

“U.S. officials have long said the exercises are intended solely to ensure readiness for a possible North Korean attack.”