South Korea and the US are to begin their annual joint military exercises next week with a focus on improving their combined capabilities to deter and defend against growing North Korean nuclear threats, the allies said yesterday.
The drills could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which portrays them as invasion rehearsals, and has used the allies’ military cooperation as a pretext to advance the development of nuclear weapons and missile systems.
South Korean and US military officials said that this year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which is scheduled from Monday next week to Aug. 29, would include computer-simulated exercises designed to enhance readiness against such threats as missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattacks, as well as concurrent field maneuvers and live-fire exercises.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The allies in particular aim to “further strengthen [their] capability and posture to deter and defend against weapons of mass destruction,” military officials said at a joint news conference.
South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung-joon said that about 19,000 South Korean troops would participate in the drills, which he described as an “essential element for maintaining a strong defense posture to protect the Republic of Korea [ROK],” using South Korea’s formal name.
US Forces Korea spokesman Ryan Donald did not comment on the number of US troops participating in the exercises and said he could not immediately confirm whether the drills would involve US strategic assets.
The US has increased its regional deployment of long-range bombers, submarines and aircraft carrier strike groups to train with South Korean and Japanese assets in a show of force against North Korea.
“This exercise will reflect realistic threats across all domains such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s missile threats and we will take in lessons learned from recent armed conflicts,” Donald said using North Korea’s formal name.
“ROK and US units will execute combined field training exercises across all domains. Field maneuver and live-fire exercises will strengthen the alliance’s interoperability, while showcasing our combined capabilities and resolve,” he said.
In addition to its military exercises with the US, the South Korean military would support the nation’s civil defense and evacuation drills on Monday to Thursday next week, which would include programs based on North Korean nuclear attack scenarios, Lee said.
Animosity on the Korean Peninsula is high, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un continues to use Russia’s war against Ukraine as a window to accelerate weapons development while issuing verbal threats of nuclear conflict toward Washington and Seoul.
In response, South Korea, the US and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises and sharpening their nuclear deterrence strategies built around US strategic assets.
During last year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests that it described as simulating “scorched earth” nuclear strikes on South Korean targets.
North Korea has also flown thousands of balloons carrying trash toward South Korea in a bizarre psychological warfare campaign that has further deteriorated relations between the war-divided rivals.
South Korea’s military yesterday said that North Korea launched about 240 balloons over the weekend, but only 10 were known to have landed in South Korea, all in areas north of the capital, Seoul. Those balloons carried paper waste and plastic bottles, and no dangerous substances were found, it said.
It was the first time North Korea flew balloons toward South Korea since July 24, when trash carried by at least one of them fell on the presidential compound in Seoul, raising worries about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. The balloon contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt.
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