South Korea and the United States said Friday they would proceed with large-scale military exercises this month, while North Korea has threatened to respond with “unprecedented” counteractions.
The two allies will hold the annual Freedom Shield drills from March 13 to March 23 to solidify their combined defense posture and combat readiness against any threats, according to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).
USFK said the 11-day joint drills would include “live exercises with constructive simulations” focused on North Korea’s aggression and “lessons learned from current and ongoing conflicts.”
Participating units will include personnel from USFK, United Nations Command, subordinate commands under the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command, and representatives of the U.N. sending states.
“Freedom Shield is designed to strengthen defence and response capabilities of the Alliance by focusing within the exercise scenario on things such as the changing security environment, DPRK aggression and lessons learned from recent wars and conflicts,” the allies said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The drills will be held concurrently with field training exercises dubbed “Warrior Shield,” which aims to bolster their military cooperation through air, sea, land, space, cyber, and special operations.
“The ROK-U.S. alliance remains at a high level of readiness and continues to maintain a robust combined defense posture,” USFK said, using the acronym for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.
This year’s Freedom Shied will feature field exercises on a scale not seen since 2017 when then-President Donald Trump scaled back public drills with South Korea to facilitate diplomacy with North Korea.
The two allies also held a joint air drill on Friday, involving one American B-1B strategic bomber and South Korean F-15K and KF-16 fighters, to demonstrate the U.S. extended deterrence against North Korean threats.
Previous U.S.-South Korea joint military drills drew retaliatory steps from North Korea, including launching missiles and an intercontinental ballistic missile, some of which landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Colonel Lee Sung-jun, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff, said they will respond “sternly based on the overwhelming capabilities of the alliance” if North Korea takes further provocative actions, Yonhap News Agency reported.
More North Korean Warnings
North Korea has long condemned U.S. joint drills on the Korean Peninsula as “rehearsals for an invasion” and warned that an increased presence of U.S. strategic assets in the region will push the security situation to an “extreme red line.”
The North’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said last month that the United States and South Korea will face “unprecedented and strong counteractions” if they proceed with their planned joint drills.
“If it is the U.S. option to show its muscle and counter everything with muscle, the same is true of the DPRK’s option,” the official said, according to the North’s official mouthpiece.
North Korea conducted a series of missile launches last year, including one involving its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17, all of which are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions on the North’s missile program.
The United States, South Korea, and Japan have strongly condemned the North’s missile launches and urged North Korea to stop its provocative acts.
Inter-Korean Military Deal
Earlier this year, South Korea said it will consider terminating a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement after North Korea sent five drones across the Demarcation Line separating the two Koreas on Dec. 26, 2022.
The incursion prompted South Korea to deploy fighter jets and fire about 100 rounds at the drones, but none were shot down while they flew over South Korean cities for hours.
“President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed the National Security Office to consider suspending the Sept. 19 military agreement in the event North Korea carries out another provocation violating our territory,” press secretary Kim Eun-hye said.
The agreement was signed by former South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018 to end military hostilities between their nations. Termination of the agreement could result in the resumption of live-fire drills along the demarcation line.
The United States said it was concerned about North Korea’s disregard for the 2018 inter-Korea military agreement, citing North Korea’s series of drone and missile provocations against its ally South Korea.
Reuters contributed to this report.
