Freedom Shield, biggest U.S.-Korea exercise in years, to start on 13th

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Freedom Shield, biggest U.S.-Korea exercise in years, to start on 13th

Col. Lee Sung-jun, right, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Forces Korea spokesperson Col. Isaac L. Taylor fist-bump during a joint press conference at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

Col. Lee Sung-jun, right, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Forces Korea spokesperson Col. Isaac L. Taylor fist-bump during a joint press conference at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

South Korea and the United States will commence their biggest combined military exercise in five years later this month, bringing back large-scale live field training suspended during the Moon Jae-in administration.
 
In a press release Friday, militaries of both countries said Freedom Shield will last from March 13 to 23.
 
Unlike previous combined exercises with weekend breaks, Freedom Shield will be held for 11 days straight, officials said, marking the longest combined exercise that the allies will be organizing without a pause. A South Korean official explained that this year’s nonstop exercise was meant to reflect the continuity of an actual combat situation.
 
“Freedom Shield is designed to strengthen defense and response capabilities of the alliance by focusing within the exercise scenario on things such as the changing security environment, DPRK aggression and lessons learned from recent wars and conflicts,” Yonhap quoted Col. Isaac L. Taylor, spokesperson for the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), as saying during a joint press conference held at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense in Seoul on Friday.
 
DPRK is short for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
 
In a statement, the USFK said the exercise will integrate elements of “live exercises” with constructive simulations.
 
Large-scale live field training involving U.S. and South Korea forces have been postponed since 2019 as left-leaning Moon tried to appease Pyongyang, and due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
According to the USFK statement, participating units will include personnel from the South Korean military, USFK, United Nations Command and subordinate component commands under the Combined Forces Command, along with augmentees, civilian personnel and representatives of the UN sending states.
 
In addition to the Freedom Shield, the allies will carry out several combined field training exercises collectively called Warrior Shield FTX.
 
“The purpose of the training for Warrior Shield FTX, is to further enhance the ROK and U.S. militaries’ cooperation through air, land, sea, space, cyber and special operations, and improve upon tactics, techniques and procedures,” the USFK statement read, referring to South Korea by the acronym for the Republic of Korea.
 
The statement stressed that Freedom Shield is the latest example of the ironclad commitment to support and defend the South sovereignty from any “threat or adversary.”
 
North Korea has often responded sharply to combined military exercises between the allies, calling them a front to practice invasion and preemptive attack.
 
Military officials from the allies on Friday stressed the upcoming exercise was defensive in nature, adding that Pyongyang, too, carries out military drills.
 
Asked about possible military provocations by North Korea during the exercise, a South Korean official said any violations of the September 19 military agreement signed between the two Koreas in 2018 during the Moon administration will “not be forgiven” and addressed “sternly” by the allies.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]
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