The U.S. and South Korean militaries began their largest joint training operation in years as North Korea continues to display heightened nuclear aggression.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises commenced on Monday and will go through Sept. 1 in South Korea. The drills involve aircraft, warships, tanks, and possibly tens of thousands of soldiers.
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Washington and Seoul have described the exercises as defensive, while North Korean leaders have claimed these drills are rehearsals for a possible invasion. The North Koreans have used the drills as justification for their continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and military advancements.
“The leaders discussed the DPRK threat, particularly the increased volume and scale of DPRK missile tests over the course of the last year,” a joint statement for the 21st Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue from last week said. “With this in mind, and considering the evolving threat posed by the DPRK, both leaders committed to expanding the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training on and around the Korean Peninsula — starting with Ulchi Freedom Shield next week — to bolster combined readiness.”
“The two sides affirmed that, should the DPRK conduct a nuclear test, the ROK and the U.S. will engage in a strong and firm bilateral response, to include options to deploy U.S. strategic assets to the region,” they added.
The Trump administration canceled the drills in 2018 as it attempted to conduct diplomacy with the North Koreans, while the coronavirus pandemic prevented the program’s resumption sooner.
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Military officials in South Korea, the United States, and Japan have expressed concern that North Korea is gearing up for its first nuclear test since 2017 at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which has been closed since 2018. The North Korean regime has fired off at least 18 missiles in 2022 alone.
The younger sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said last week that South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol should “shut his mouth” rather than offer economic aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament.
