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| U.S. Forces Korea spokesperson Col. Isaac L. Taylor, left, and Col. Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, bump fists during a joint press conference on combined military drills at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea and the United States jointly announced Friday that they will resume their annual combined springtime military exercise in mid-March after five years.
According to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), the joint exercise, also known as the Freedom Shield, will be conducted from March 13 to 23. This is the longest-ever period for the allies to conduct an operational exercise.
"Freedom Shield is designed to strengthen defense and response capabilities of the alliance by focusing within the exercise scenario on things such as the changing security environment, DPRK aggression and lessons learned from recent wars and conflicts," USFK spokesperson Col. Isaac Taylor said during a joint press briefing. DPRK stands for the North's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Following the launch of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration last May, the exercise was renamed as Freedom Shield. The word "Freedom" signifies the South Korea-U.S. alliance's strong commitment to protecting freedom as an unchanging value, while "Shield" represents the exercise's defensive nature.
The 11-day exercise combines live exercises and simulations over consecutive days, unlike the previous biannual exercises which lasted five to six days and were divided into one or two parts with a weekend break. The military explained that the change is aimed at reflecting actual combat situations and ensuring continuity of operations.
As well, several combined field training exercises under the name Warrior Shield FTX (field training exercises) will take place around the Korean Peninsula. The field training exercises aim to improve military cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. on air, land, sea, space, cyber and special operations.
According to officials, the Warrior Shield exercise marks a return to the scale of Foal Eagle, the massive exercise which was suspended in 2019 under the previous Moon Jae-in administration as it tried to mend ties with North Korea.
Pyongyang is expected to strongly oppose the drills, which may include retaliatory missile launches.
North Korea has claimed that the joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. are aimed at perfecting the mastery of pre-emptive strikes against the North and the frequency of using the Pacific Ocean, as North Korea's range of operations depends on the nature of U.S. military movements.
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