S.Korea and US to conduct military drills in March
The militaries of the United States and South Korea will hold their annual spring drills in March to bolster their countries’ joint defense capabilities amid a deepening diplomatic freeze with nuclear-armed North Korea.
Freedom Shield exercises will be held March 9-19, it was announced Wednesday.
North Korea has long described joint allied exercises as invasion rehearsals and used them as an excuse to step up its own military demonstrations and weapons testing activities.
Allies say the drills are defensive in nature.
The announcement comes after North Korea holds a major political conference where authoritarian leader Kim Jong-un is expected to outline his key domestic, foreign policy and military goals for the next five years.
North Korean state media has so far made no direct comments from Mr. Kim about relations with Washington and Seoul at the ruling Workers’ Party congress that began last week.
Based on recent public comments, experts say Kim may use the congress to further solidify his tough stance on South Korea, reiterate his call for Washington to abandon its demand for denuclearization as a precondition for renewed talks, and unveil steps to simultaneously strengthen and integrate its nuclear and conventional forces.
Freedom Shield is one of two “command center” exercises the allies conduct each year; The other one is the Ulchi Freedom Shield held in August.
The exercises are largely computer simulated and designed to test the allies’ joint operational capabilities while also incorporating evolving combat scenarios and security challenges.
As usual, the March exercise will be accompanied by a field training program called Warrior Shield to improve “training realism and combat readiness,” Col. Ryan Donald, public affairs director for U.S. Forces Korea, said at a news conference.
South Korean and US officials did not say how many soldiers would participate.
Exercises often involve thousands of people.
There is speculation that the allies are trying to tone down the exercises to create the conditions for dialogue with North Korea.
Liberal South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has expressed a desire for inter-Korean interaction, and some of his top officials have expressed hope that U.S. President Donald Trump’s expected visit to China in late March or April could open the door to renewed talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
