South Korea and the US are launching an important military exercise this week

Seoul, Aug 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) South Korea and the United States will begin a major joint military exercise this week to strengthen their joint defense preparedness in the face of the evolving military threat from North Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Sunday.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise is based on a full-scale war scenario and is scheduled to take place from August 19 to 29. It includes the main computer simulation-based command post exercise, parallel field training and civil defense drills, Yonhap news agency reported.

The JCS said the exercise would further strengthen the South Korea-US alliance's ability and readiness to respond to any provocations and defend itself against North Korean weapons of mass destruction through multi-domain exercises using a variety of land, sea, air, cyber and space assets.

The allied exercise comes amid growing concerns about Pyongyang's continued push for weapons development, highlighted by the launch of 37 ballistic missiles this year alone, and rising cross-border tensions following the North's recent garbage balloon campaign.

Allies said this year's exercise will reflect threats from all domains, including those from North Korean missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattacks, as well as lessons learned from recent armed conflicts.

The exercise will be similar in scope to last year and will involve about 19,000 South Korean soldiers.

It will include 48 field exercises, such as amphibious landings and shooting drills, up from 38 last year. The number of brigade-level exercises will also increase to 17 this year, compared to four last year.

The North has long denounced the allied joint drills as a rehearsal for an invasion against it and has already conducted weapons tests in response. South Korea and the United States have rejected this accusation and described their drills as defensive exercises.

Visiting a western front unit last week, JCS Chairman Admiral Kim Myung-soo ordered troops to immediately retaliate against any provocations and said the North would likely use the allied exercise as a pretext for further provocations.

Source: IANS

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