South Korean-US forces are conducting their largest joint military exercise in five years amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The eleven-day Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) maneuver began on Monday as planned, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry said.
It did not provide any information on the number of soldiers taking part or on military equipment. The US has stationed 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against a threat from North Korea, a self-declared nuclear power.
With the exercise, both countries are resuming their joint maneuvers, which had been scaled back due to the corona pandemic. They also represent the failure of diplomatic efforts to deal with Pyongyang.
In South Korea it was feared that North Korea could respond to the maneuver with a sharp reaction such as new missile tests. The leadership of the largely isolated country regularly accuses the US of maneuvering with South Korea in preparation for an attack. Washington and Seoul deny that.
Tensions in the region have escalated again this year following a series of tests by North Korea of ​​nuclear-capable missiles. In May, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his US counterpart Joe Biden agreed to expand joint military maneuvers at a meeting in Seoul.
According to Seoul, the most extensive exercises will now take place until September 1st. In addition to computer simulations, which are intended to prepare both sides for possible scenarios of a military deployment, field exercises will also be resumed. The elimination of weapons of mass destruction should also be practiced.
In recent years, the United States and South Korea have reduced or canceled the scope of joint exercises, also for diplomatic reasons. When the US canceled the summer maneuvers in South Korea in 2018, they wanted to give diplomats a better chance in negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. However, negotiations have not progressed since the failed US-North Korea summit in Vietnam in February 2019.
During the first four days of the military maneuvers, a nationwide civil defense exercise will be held in South Korea. The purpose is to be better prepared for “changing war scenarios,” Yoon said at a cabinet meeting, according to South Korean media reports.
