Seoul: South Korea and the United States began their annual joint military exercises on Monday in view of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
The two countries began the 11-day annual ‘Freedom Shield’ exercise amid rising tensions over North Korea’s shelling and missile launches near their western maritime border, Yonhap news agency reported.
This is the first military exercise after North Korea canceled a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement to reduce border tensions in November last year.
North Korea has long condemned military exercises by allies, calling them aggressive actions against it. It frequently launches missile launches in retaliation against such exercises. However, Seoul and Washington have said that the exercise is purely defensive.
The South Korean and US militaries said the latest drills were aimed at strengthening their joint defense posture.
Last week, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Colonel Lee Sung-joon said that during the exercises, there will also be training to detect and intercept North Korea’s cruise missiles.
The two countries plan to conduct 48 on-field exercises this month, more than double the number in the same period last year.
Soldiers from 12 countries including Australia, Britain, Philippines and Thailand will also participate in this exercise.
