South Korea and US will start summer military drills next week to counter North Korean threats

SEOUL, South Korea. South Korea and the United States will begin their annual joint military exercises next week with a focus on enhancing their combined capabilities to deter and defend against growing nuclear threats from North Korea, the allies said Monday.

The exercises could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which presents them as invasion rehearsals and has used the allies’ military cooperation as a pretext to advance the development of nuclear weapons and missile systems.

South Korean and U.S. military officials said this year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, scheduled for Aug. 19-29, will include computer-simulated exercises designed to improve preparedness against threats such as missiles, GPS jamming and cyber attacks. , and simultaneous field maneuvers and live broadcasts. fire exercises.

Allies in particular aim to “further strengthen (their) capability and posture to deter and defend against weapons of mass destruction,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries did not immediately confirm the number of troops taking part in the summer exercises, which typically involve thousands.

Animosity on the Korean Peninsula is high as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to use Russia’s war against Ukraine as a window to accelerate weapons development while issuing verbal threats of nuclear conflict toward Washington and Seoul.

In response, South Korea, the United States and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises and fine-tuning their nuclear deterrence strategies based on American strategic assets.

During last year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests that it described as simulating “scorched earth” nuclear attacks on South Korean targets.

The North has also flown in recent weeks thousands of balloons carrying garbage south in a bizarre psychological warfare campaign that has further deteriorated relations between the war-divided rivals.

Debris from at least one of those balloons fell on South Korea’s presidential complex last month, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. The balloon did not contain any hazardous materials and no one was injured, South Korea’s presidential security service said.