South Korea, US Begin Annual Major Joint Military Exercises
SEOUL (Sputnik) - South Korea and the United States are beginning the annual major joint military exercises Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) to strengthen their joint defense readiness and ability to counter "threats from North Korea."
The Yonhap agency previously reported citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) that the UFS exercises would be held from August 19-29, and would include a major command post exercise based on computer simulation, field training, and civil defense exercises.
The exercises are based on a full-scale war scenario, using various means, including land, sea, air, cyber, and space. It is reported that the exercises should further strengthen the potential and readiness of the South Korea-US alliance to respond to "any provocations by North Korea" and defend against weapons of mass destruction.
This year's UFS will see allies train to counter threats in all domains, including North Korean missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattacks. The drills will also incorporate lessons from recent conflicts around the world.
The scale of the exercises will be similar to last year's, with about 19,000 South Korean troops taking part. The training will include 48 field exercises, such as amphibious landings and live-fire drills, 10 more than last year. The number of brigade-level exercises will also increase, from four last year to 17 this year.
North Korea has denounced the joint South Korean-US drills as a simulation of an invasion of North Korea and a "nuclear war rehearsal." The North Korean Foreign Ministry's Institute for American Studies denounced on Sunday the UFS as "military exercises in preparation for aggression." Seoul and Washington reject this, calling the exercises "defensive" in nature. Pyongyang considers these exercises to be "the most offensive and provocative military exercises in preparation for aggression in the world." North Korea will continue to make decisive efforts to build up a powerful defense potential to reliably protect state sovereignty, security, interests and territorial integrity and will change the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region in its favor, it said.
At the same time, the South expects the North to respond to the exercises. Last week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Kim Myong-soo ordered the troops to immediately take retaliatory measures in the event of any provocations, saying that North Korea is likely to use the UFS exercises as a "pretext for provocation."
