The US and South Korea will begin their second large-scale military exercises this year next week to address specific threats from North Korea, Korean media reported.
The military drills scheduled for August 19-29, will see US and South Korean troops practice skills including responding to the use of weapons of mass destruction. Ryan Donald, spokesperson of US Forces Korea (USFK), said:
“This exercise will reflect realistic threats across all domains such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s missile threats and we will take in lessons learned from recent armed conflicts.”
About 19,000 South Korean troops will take part in the exercise, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The US Forces Korea Command, the command overseeing about 28,500 US troops on the peninsula, has not disclosed the number of US troops participating in the semi-annual exercise, citing operational security concerns.
Military personnel from member countries of the UN Command will also take part in the exercise, while representatives of an oversight committee of neutral nations will monitor the manoeuvres, USFK said in a statement by email on Monday.
Annual military drills provoke escalation
Ulchi Freedom Shield is the second large-scale military exercise held annually by the US and South Korea. The Freedom Shield exercise, also lasting 11 days, was held in March and consisted of 48 separate drills. The drills are named after Eulji Mundeok, a Korean general who led his troops against Chinese forces in the 7th century.
China has consistently criticised the large-scale military exercises by Washington and Seoul, calling them a rehearsal for an invasion. During last year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, North Korea said the drills could lead to an “unprecedented large-scale thermonuclear war” on the peninsula, according to an August 22 report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Two days after that report, North Korea launched a spy satellite that failed to reach orbit, and six days after that it launched two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.
