South Korea and the United States will hold major joint military exercises from August 17 to 27 as the two allies step up preparations for what they describe as North Korea’s changing military capabilities.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise will include training against drones, GPS disruptions, cyberattacks and other emerging threats.
The exercise will also test military operations alongside South Korea’s emergency preparedness drills, according to the two countries.
Colonel Ryan Donald, public affairs director for the Combined Forces Command, United Nations Command and US Forces Korea, said the drills had been adjusted to reflect changes in modern warfare, including the growing use of unmanned systems, electronic warfare and cyber operations.
He said North Korean troops had gained battlefield experience from their deployment to Ukraine and had taken those lessons back to North Korea.
“That changes the DPRK capability, and our training accounts for that threat,” Donald said.
He stressed that the exercise was focused on defending South Korea and dealing with threats on the Korean Peninsula.
About 18,000 South Korean troops are expected to participate, a figure similar to previous editions of the exercise, according to Colonel Jang Doyoung of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Although Seoul and Washington maintain that the drills are defensive, North Korea has repeatedly condemned the exercises, describing them as a provocation and a rehearsal for invasion.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high, with North Korea continuing to expand its nuclear weapons programme, ballistic and cruise missile capabilities, artillery and other conventional weapons despite United Nations sanctions.
Pyongyang also fired a short-range ballistic missile towards the sea last week.
Relations between the two Koreas have further deteriorated as North Korea adopts a tougher position towards the South.
Pyongyang has revised its constitution to remove references to reunification and define South Korea as a separate territory.
The North has also described itself as a “responsible nuclear weapons state” and stated that it will continue developing its nuclear arsenal.
The latest military drills are therefore expected to draw a strong reaction from Pyongyang, which has consistently viewed the annual exercises as a threat to its security.
