South Korea, US to hold military drills amid evolving North Korean threats

South Korea and the United States will hold major joint military exercises from August 17 to 27, with this year’s drills incorporating measures to counter drones, GPS disruptions and cyberattacks as the allies adjust to North Korea’s evolving military capabilities, officials have said.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise will test the allies’ operational readiness while supporting the South Korean government’s emergency preparedness drills, the two countries confirmed in a joint statement, Caliber.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Colonel Ryan Donald, director of public affairs for the Combined Forces Command, United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea, made it clear that the exercise reflects the changing nature of warfare, including the increasing use of unmanned systems, electronic warfare and cyber operations.

"DPRK soldiers have deployed and fought in Ukraine, and they've taken those lessons they've learned there and brought them back to North Korea," noted Donald, using the initials of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"That changes the DPRK capability, and our training accounts for that threat," he added.

Donald further stated that the exercises are strictly focused on threats to the Korean Peninsula and the defence of South Korea.

Around 18,000 South Korean troops will participate in the drills, a figure broadly in line with previous years, Captain Jang Doyoung of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Although Seoul and Washington maintain that the exercises are defensive in nature, Pyongyang routinely condemns them as provocative military activities that increase tensions on the peninsula.

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea last week and has continued advancing its nuclear weapons program, ballistic and cruise missile capabilities, artillery and other conventional military systems despite United Nations Security Council sanctions.

The drills are taking place as tensions between the two Koreas remain high.

North Korea has adopted a tougher stance toward South Korea, amending its constitution this year to remove references to reunification and define its territory as bordering the South.

A separate defence provision refers to North Korea as a "responsible nuclear weapons state" and states that the country will continue advancing its nuclear weapons development.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov