The United States and South Korea will conduct major military drills on the peninsula later this month, incorporating exercises in countering drone attacks, GPS disruption, and cyberattacks, officials have announced.
Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) will take place between Aug. 17 and 27, according to a joint statement released on Aug. 10. The exercise also involves 16 other U.N. Command member states.
The allies plan to incorporate lessons learned from recent warfare trends, using the drills as a foundation to strengthen the United States’ and South Korea’s combined defense posture.
Col. Jang Do-young of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exercises will involve around 18,000 South Korean military personnel—in line with previous years.
“We will enhance the ability to conduct total national war at the pan-government level by linking with wartime preparedness exercises by government ministries,” Jang said.
The annual UFS exercise is a joint, all-domain drill between South Korean and U.S. forces in which the allies strengthen their joint response capabilities against a range of regional security threats. It often features live, virtual, and field-based training, engaging personnel from a range of military services from both forces.
Changing Threats From North Korea
The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the South Korean Combined Forces Command announced the exercise schedule through a joint briefing for reporters at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 10.
“ROK” are the initials of South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.
“The character of warfare has been changing. So, even evolving aspects of warfare—including drones, GPS disruption, cyber attacks—are expected to be reflected in the exercise,” Donald said.
“DPRK soldiers have deployed and fought in Ukraine, and they’ve taken those lessons they learned there and brought them back to North Korea. That changes the [DPRK’s] capability, and our training accounts for that threat,” he said, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Meanwhile, on June 26, Pyongyang announced that the previous day it had conducted a series of tests on upgraded artillery and ballistic missile systems as part of North Korea’s five-year military modernization program.
Donald said that the exercises are “defensive in nature” and are not designed as a provocation, but to address security threats facing the Korean Peninsula.
“Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of the largest exercises in the Pacific,” he said, adding that its main purpose is to “deter aggression against the Republic of Korea.”
The U.S. Department of State describes the Mutual Defense Treaty as the “linchpin for security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”
More than 28,500 U.S. military personnel are stationed in South Korea, according to the department.
