South Korea and the United States will kick off a major combined military exercise next week to beef up their joint defense, both sides said Monday, amid North Korea's hardening rhetoric fueling concerns about the possibility of North Korea unleashing new provocations.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise based on an all-out war scenario is set to take place from Aug. 21-31, featuring various contingency drills, such as the computer simulation-based command post exercise, concurrent field training and Ulchi civil defense drills, South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) reported.
"Ulchi Freedom Shield 23 is designed to be a tough and realistic exercise to strengthen the combined defense posture and alliance response capabilities based on scenarios that reflect diverse threats within the security environment and lessons learned from recent wars and conflicts," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a press release.
Aside from South Korean and US participants, personnel from member countries of the UN Command (UNC) will join the exercise.
The UNC is a key enforcer of the armistice that halted the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, an observer of the armistice, will also attend the drills.
S. Korea, U.S. to launch key military drills next week
Military vehicles are parked at U.S. Army base Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul, on Aug. 14, 2023. South Korea and the United States will kick off the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, a major combined military exercise, next week to beef up their joint defense amid North Korea's hardening rhetoric fueling concerns about the possibility of North Korea unleashing new provocations. (Yonhap)/2023-08-14 15:28:14/
