South Korea and the United States commenced an annual combined exercise Monday to bolster their joint defense readiness.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, which runs for 11 days through Aug. 28, involves drills incorporating "realistic" threats aimed at enhancing the allies' capabilities across all domains. Some 18,000 South Korean troops will be mobilized for this year's drills, News.Az reports, citing Yonhap.
While the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said this year's exercise will be held at a similar scale compared with last year, around half of some 40 planned field training exercises will be pushed back to September as part of apparent efforts by South Korea to mend frayed ties with North Korea.
The North has long denounced the allies' joint exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion against it and has a track record of staging weapons tests in response.
In an Aug. 10 statement, Pyongyang's defense chief denounced the large-scale exercise and warned of exercising his country's "self-defense" right in the event of a provocation.
South Korea and the U.S. have emphasized the summertime drills are "defensive in nature."
The UFS exercise will be held alongside a four-day civil defense exercise that runs through Thursday, mobilizing about 580,000 civilians and will include efforts to fend off attacks from drones and cyberattacks.
On Wednesday, an anti-air raid civil defense drill will be conducted nationwide as part of the civil defense drills.
