The United States and South Korea began their annual joint military exercises last Monday (4) as part of an operation called “Freedom Shield” to try to prevent Pyongyang's excesses.
Lee Sungjun, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul, said the drills will focus on deterring nuclear threats from North Korea.
The largescale military exercises will take place in a “combined, joint, multiagency, multidomain operational environment” and are expected to conclude on March 14.
The U.S. and South Korean exercises aim to strengthen understanding between the two countries’ militaries and ensure their ability to enhance the alliance’s defense and response against a spectrum of security threats.”
According to US authorities, the program includes “live, virtual, constructive and field training involving military service and other federal agency personnel.”
“In addition, an important aspect focuses on conducting multidomain operations using land, sea, air, cyber and space assets, with particular attention to antinuclear operations and nonkinetic effects.”
12 member states of the UN command are also taking part in the military exercises: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand and the United States.
The aim is for the South Korean and USled units to conduct several largescale joint training sessions “to strengthen security and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula, but throughout Northeast Asia and the IndoPacific.”
In response, a spokesman for the Kim Jongun regime's defense ministry assured that Washington and Seoul “will be forced to pay a high price for their decision, knowing that it will lead to serious security problems at any time.”