South Korea and the United States began major joint military drills on Monday to bolster military readiness amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s missile tests and tougher rhetoric toward allies, Renhap news agency reported.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, “based on a total war scenario,” will include “contingency” drills, computer simulation-based command post drills, parallel field exercises and civil defense drills. They will continue until August 31.
According to a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean Armed Forces, about 30 joint allied field training exercises are planned during the exercise period.
He stressed that the exercise is “designed as a tough and realistic training to strengthen the alliance’s joint defense posture and response capabilities based on scenarios reflecting various security threats.”
In addition to South Korean and U.S. participants, personnel from nine member countries of the United Nations Command (UNC), (a joint multinational military command established in 1950 to support South Korea): Australia, Canada, France, Britain, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand, will join the exercise, Renhap reported.
The agency noted that the South Korean military is stepping up its preparedness for possible military action by Pyongyang during the drills, as the DPRK has consistently called the U.S.-South Korean exercises a rehearsal for an invasion of North Korea.
South Korean intelligence agencies told parliamentarians last week that “the North is preparing various provocations during the joint drills, such as launching an intercontinental ballistic missile,” according to the report.
The agency said the CTAC report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the 2nd Guards Division of surface ships of the Korean People’s Army Navy’s Eastern Fleet Eastern Fleet and observed missile launches was “a clear expression of protest against the drills.”
