South Korea, U.S. begin annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise to boost readiness against North

South Korea and the United States began conducting joint military drills on Monday that President Yoon Suk Yeol called necessary to bolster readiness against hostile acts committed by Pyongyang.

A General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle takes off from Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Monday, the first day of the joint Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise by the South Korean and U.S. militaries. [YONHAP]

South Korea and the United States began conducting joint military drills on Monday that President Yoon Suk Yeol called necessary to bolster readiness against hostile acts committed by Pyongyang.

Speaking during a Cabinet meeting held the same day, the president said the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise will focus on “strengthening readiness to respond to provocations committed by the North in gray areas,” such as news media and cyber space.

Warning that “anti-state forces are operating covertly in various places to threaten liberal democracy,” Yoon said South Korea must “seek ways to prevent internal divisions from arising” and protect critical infrastructure and key national facilities.

Ulchi Freedom Shield is scheduled to run in two phases from Monday to Aug. 29.

The exercise will include a computer simulation-based command post exercise, field training maneuvers, and civil defense drills by the South Korean government.

South Korean officials have said the civil defense segment of the exercise, which is scheduled to run from Monday to Thursday, also includes preparations for a hypothetical North Korean nuclear attack.

The second phase, due to take place from Aug. 26 to 29, will consist solely of military drills.

During their announcement of the exercise last week, representatives of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and United States Forces Korea said the exercise will reflect threats emanating from the North across “all domains” and incorporate lessons from recent armed conflicts.

According to the JCS, approximately 19,000 South Korean soldiers across the country’s armed forces are expected to participate in 48 field training maneuvers.

The South Korean Army’s joint training with the U.S. military includes live-fire artillery and missile launching drills and pontoon bridge construction.

In addition to conducting its own command post exercise with U.S. counterparts, the South Korean Navy is scheduled to carry out drills to practice defending and repairing port facilities in wartime and loading ship ammunition.

The South Korean Air Force has said it plans to run sorties around the clock during the first phase of Ulchi Freedom Shield on top of joint training missions involving U.S. fighter jets.

With around 80 outdoor drills scheduled, the Air Force warned that people living near its bases in Daegu, Seosan and Yecheon could be exposed to aircraft noise not only during the day but also at night.

The beginning of Ulchi Freedom Shield was met with condemnation from the North’s foreign ministry, which issued a statement via state media on Sunday that called the joint exercise “provocative war drills for aggression” and a “prelude to nuclear war.”

The ministry argued the exercise is the latest in a series of “rash confrontational moves” by the allies aimed at “beheading” Pyongyang's leadership and claimed that the drills justify the North’s stockpile of illicit weapons, which include nuclear arms and ballistic missiles banned by multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.

During last year’s exercise, the North carried out ballistic missile tests that it said were intended to simulate “scorched earth” nuclear strikes on South Korean targets.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]