The United States and South Korean militaries have announced that they will conduct regular joint military exercises for 11 days starting from the 4th of next month in preparation for an emergency on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries are increasing their vigilance due to concerns that North Korea, which has opposed the drills, could launch missiles.
The US and South Korean militaries held a press conference in Seoul on the 28th and announced that they will be holding a regular joint military exercise called "Freedom Shield" from the 4th to the 14th of next month in anticipation of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula. It was announced that the event will be held in South Korea for 11 days.
The exercise will include 48 field maneuver exercises, including bombing and live-fire, and is said to be aimed at responding to North Korea's nuclear threat.
The head of the Public Relations Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean Armed Forces emphasized, ``We will expand and conduct a variety of training exercises on the ground, at sea, and in the air to improve the operational capabilities of both militaries.''
On the other hand, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in a speech on the 8th of this month, which marks Armed Forces Memorial Day, stated, ``It is the national policy to occupy South Korean territory in an emergency,'' and stated that he wanted to peacefully unify South Korea. We are emphasizing a confrontational stance based on a policy of treating Japan as an enemy rather than a target.
North Korea, which has opposed military exercises, has repeatedly launched ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missile class Hwasong-17) and short-range ballistic missiles during the exercise period in March last year, and this time it also launched a nuclear warhead. Both the U.S. and South Korean militaries are increasing their vigilance, as there are concerns that the United States and South Korea may repeat missile launches that assume they are loaded with missiles.