THE United States began a large military exercise with South Korea involving thousands of troops while also waging an escalating conflict in the Middle East.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff has said about 18,000 Korean troops will take part in Freedom Shield, which runs through March 19. US Forces Korea hasn’t confirmed the number of American troops participating in the training in South Korea.
The exercise comes amid South Korean media speculation that Washington is relocating some assets from South Korea to support fighting against Iran.
US Forces Korea said last week it would not comment on specific movements of military assets for security reasons.
South Korean officials also declined to comment on the reports that some US Patriot anti-missile systems and other equipment were being moved to the Middle East, but they said there would be no meaningful impact on the allies’ combined defence posture.
Freedom Shield may trigger an irritated response from North Korea, which has long described the allies’ joint exercises as invasion rehearsals and used them as a pretext to ramp up its own military demonstrations and weapons tests. The allies say the drills are defensive in nature.
North Korea has suspended all meaningful dialogue with Washington and Seoul following the 2019 collapse of a summit between leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump during his first term.
Tensions rose in recent years as Kim used Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a window to accelerate the development of his nuclear arsenal and increase his leverage by aligning militarily with Moscow, which has received thousands of North Korean troops and large weapons shipments to help fuel its warfighting.
The allies’ drills follow a major political conference in Pyongyang last month, where Kim confirmed his hard-line view of “enemy” Seoul but left the door open to talks with Washington, calling on the United States to drop its demand for North Korea’s denuclearisation as a precondition for dialogue.
While United States and South Korean militaries say field exercises are often spread out throughout the year, there’s speculation that the allies are seeking to tone down the spring drills to create conditions for dialogue with North Korea. — AP
