South Korea, US to conduct military drills amid evolving North Korea threats
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The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise will test operations and support the South Korean government’s emergency readiness drills.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- South Korea and the US will conduct joint military drills from Aug 17 to 27 to counter drones, GPS disruption, and cyberattacks amid North Korea's evolving threats.
- About 18,000 South Korean troops will participate, focusing on defending South Korea and adapting to North Korea's improved military capabilities learned from Ukraine.
- North Korea condemns the drills as provocations and has advanced its nuclear and missile programs, recently revising its Constitution to confirm its nuclear weapons status.
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SEOUL - South Korea and the United States will conduct major joint military drills from Aug 17 to Aug 27, incorporating exercises to counter drones, GPS disruption and cyberattacks as they adapt to North Korea’s evolving capabilities, officials said on Aug 10.
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 US 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,” said Donald, 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 Colonel Jang Doyoung of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
While the allies say the drills are defensive in nature, Pyongyang routinely denounces the military exercise as a provocation that heightens tensions.
North Korea, which last week fired a short-range ballistic missile towards the sea, has continued developing nuclear weapons, ballistic and cruise missiles, artillery and other conventional systems in defiance of United Nations Security Council sanctions.
The drills come as relations between the two Koreas remain strained.
North Korea has hardened its stance toward South Korea, revising its Constitution in 2026 to remove references to reunification and define its territory as bordering the South.
A separate defence clause described the North as a “responsible nuclear weapons state” and specified that the country will advance nuclear weapons development. REUTERS
