This year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise, conducted by South Korea and the U.S., will begin next week.
It is aimed at strengthening the combined defense posture against evolving North Korean threats.
Our defense correspondent Choi Min-jung reports.
South Korea and the United States are set to kick off their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise next Monday.
The UFS is a major combined military and civil exercise that includes a computer-based simulation, combined field training exercises, and Ulchi civil defense drills involving government agencies.
This year, around 19-thousand South Korean military personnel will take part.
Some 48 outdoor drills will be held,.. including field maneuvers and live fire exercises on land, sea, and air.
South Korea’s military says UFS 2024 is designed to strengthen the Allies’ combined defense posture against North Korea’s increasing missile threats, GPS jamming, and cyber-attacks.
In particular, Seoul and Washington will aim to further strengthen their capability to deter the regime’s weapons of mass destruction.
“The combined ROK-U.S. exercise is a critical factor to the strong defense posture of the Republic of Korea in times of contingencies and crisis. We are maintaining a very strong readiness posture to be able to respond immediately strongly and until the end in case of provocation.”
“This is all designed so we don’t have a failure of imagination so we can ensure we defend the Republic of Korea.”
This year’s military exercise seems unlikely to be based on a nuclear-use scenario.
However, some military personnel will take part in the training for North Korea’s nuclear program, as part of the government-led Ulchi exercise.
The UFS 2024 will also include participation from several United Nations Command member states, and run for eleven days until August 29th.
“Seoul and Washington’s military authorities usually keep a close eye on North Korea’s potential provocation against the UFS exercise, or as the regime calls it, a “rehearsal for invasion.”
Choi Min-jung, Arirang News.”
source : https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=274586
