South Korea, U.S. to Hold Joint Military Drills Amid North Korean Threats

AP

Colonel Ryan Donald and Captain Jang Doyoung

South Korea and the United States will conduct large-scale joint military exercises from 17 to 27 August, incorporating training to counter drone attacks, GPS signal disruption and cyber threats, as the allies adapt to North Korea's evolving military capabilities.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise will test operations and support the South Korean government's ⁠emergency readiness drills, the allies said in a joint statement.

Colonel Ryan Donald, director of public affairs for the Combined Forces Command, United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea, said the exercise reflected the changing character of war, including the growing use of unmanned systems, electronic warfare and cyber operations.

"DPRK soldiers have deployed and fought in Ukraine, and they've taken those lessons they've learned there and brought them back to North Korea," Reuters quoted Donald as saying, using the initials of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"That changes the DPRK capability, and our training accounts ‌for ⁠that threat," he said.

The drills were strictly focused on threats to the Korean Peninsula and the defence of South Korea, he added.

About 18,000 South Korean troops will take part, a scale similar to previous years, said South Korean military spokesperson Jang Doyoung, according to Reuters.

While South Korea and the United States maintain that the joint military exercises are purely defensive, North Korea has repeatedly condemned them as provocative and a source of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang, which last week launched a short-range ballistic missile into the sea, has continued to expand its nuclear weapons programme, alongside the development of ballistic and cruise missiles, artillery systems and other conventional military capabilities, in defiance of United Nations Security Council sanctions.

The exercises take place against the backdrop of deteriorating inter-Korean relations.

North Korea has further hardened its position towards the South, amending its constitution this year to remove references to reunification and formally define its territory as separate from South Korea. A revised defence clause also describes the country as a "responsible nuclear weapons state" and reaffirms its commitment to advancing its nuclear weapons programme.



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