Despite Pyongyang’s threats that it will not tolerate such a “war rehearsal” on its doorstep, South Korean and American forces want to conduct extensive live-fire drills close to the border with North Korea.
The “joint and combined firepower annihilation training” – billed as the largest-ever joint live-fire drills – will be conducted by the armed forces of South Korea and the US from May 25 to June 15 to commemorate the alliance’s seven decades.
The combined drills, which have been conducted 11 times since their inception in 1977, now include unmanned and other high-tech assets in live-fire and field training exercises.
The joint exercises this year will feature modern stealth fighter jets, attack helicopters, multiple rocket launchers, and other weapons from South Korea and the US, according to the South Korean defence ministry.
The number of soldiers who will participate in the drills is currently unknown, but the last exercise, which took place in 2017, included about 2,000 soldiers and 250 weapons from both countries.
The drills, according to a previous statement from the South Korean defence ministry, are intended to strengthen the alliance’s overall operational performance capabilities. Washington and Seoul will also work to develop “the overwhelming deterrence and response capabilities” to counter what they refer to as North Korean nuclear and missile threats, the ministry said.
Such significant South Korean-US military drills are often met with missile and other weapon testing from Pyongyang.
Last Friday, North Korea’s state media, KCNA, referred to the exercises as “a typical North Korea-targeted war rehearsal,” highlighting the fact that Pyongyang must take the exercises more seriously given that they will be staged within a few kilometres from its border.
The US and South Korea would also receive unnamed “corresponding responses” for what it described as their extensive, provocative drills, it was also stated in the statement.
North Korea is attempting to vary the means by which its nuclear bombs are delivered after declaring itself an “irreversible” nuclear power last year. Late this month, its military carried out a fire exercise utilising tactical ballistic missiles to simulate a nuclear assault. Kim Jong-un, the leader of the North, has urged the armed forces to be prepared for conflict.
The United States and the UN Security Council have been imposing severe sanctions on North Korea because of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes for many years. Since the start of 2022, it has launched an unprecedented number of missiles—more than 100—including its most sophisticated intercontinental ballistic missile ever.
Yoon Suk-yeol, the president of South Korea, made a six-day trip to Washington last month to commemorate his nation’s 70 years of bilateral ties with the US and to ask for expanded nuclear protection.
The US promise to provide “extended deterrence,” or the use of US military resources, including nuclear weapons, was one of the key topics discussed. The “Washington Declaration,” outlining steps to fortify their partnership, was released by the two parties.
As a result of the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953 and ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two neighbours technically still at war, more than 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea.
As a result of the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953 and ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two neighbours technically still at war, more than 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea.
South Korea has been attempting to strengthen its military alliance with the US and widen its collaboration with Japan after being alarmed by the North’s increased test launches.
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