The United States and South Korea have agreed to shorten their joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), which began earlier this week, following US President Donald Trump’s decision to scale back the annual war games, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the military.
According to Yonhap, the exercise will now conclude on Friday, nearly halving the originally scheduled drill period. The UFS was initially scheduled to be held from August 17 to 27.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a release that field training exercises, a key component of the drills, would also be reduced to some extent. The two militaries are discussing the details of the revised training plans.
“South Korea and the United States agreed to discuss and carry out various measures going forward to achieve the objectives of the UFS exercise and establish a robust combined defence posture,” the JCS said.
Yonhap reported that Washington and Seoul had cancelled the second half of the exercise, which was based on counterattack scenarios following enemy aggression. The UFS is primarily aimed at preparing the allies for contingencies involving North Korea.
Joint US-South Korea military exercises were also scaled back in 2019 during Trump’s first term, when nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang was at its peak.
CNN, citing a spokesperson for US Forces Korea, reported that this year’s drills were designed to adapt to North Korea’s evolving military capabilities and would include training to counter drones, GPS disruption and cyberattacks. At least 18,000 South Korean troops were expected to participate.
Despite the scaling back of the exercise, North Korea on Wednesday continued to denounce the joint military drills. Yonhap, citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported that Pyongyang vowed to “completely neutralise the enemy’s military threat” and exercise its right to self-defence.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has maintained that the joint drills with Washington are defensive in nature and do not reflect any intention to attack North Korea or escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Addressing a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lee also called for faster progress in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines following Trump’s decision to reduce the scale of the joint military exercises, Yonhap reported. (ANI)
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