The United States and South Korea’s military announced jointly on Wednesday (February 25th) that the two countries will carry out the annual large-scale joint military exercise codenamed “Freedom Shield” from March 9th to 19th.
This exercise aims to strengthen the U.S.-Korea joint defense posture and provide strong support for the advancement of the wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer process between the U.S. and South Korea.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries stated in a joint declaration that this routine exercise is of a defensive nature. Through joint service coordination and full-spectrum operations, it will further enhance the alliance’s readiness and combat capabilities.
The statement pointed out that this exercise is an important opportunity, and the two countries will continue to prepare for South Korea to regain wartime military command authority in accordance with the alliance treaty.
According to current plans, the South Korean government aims to complete the process of regaining military command authority from the U.S. by President Jae-myung Lee’s departure in 2030.
To expedite this process, the U.S. and South Korea have reached consensus to complete the verification of “Full Operational Capability” (FOC) by the end of this year. This is a crucial second phase in the “three-step process” for assessing the joint military leadership capabilities of the South Korean military.
This year’s exercise will include multi-domain exercises and command post training, as well as scenarios focused on deterring North Korean nuclear weapons.
Furthermore, the field training exercise (FTX) known as “Warrior Shield” will also be conducted simultaneously.
On the diplomatic front, South Korea’s Minister of Unification, Dong-yong Jung, and other officials had suggested reducing the scale of field training exercises to create a conducive atmosphere for restarting dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea. However, this proposal was met with opposition from the U.S. side.
Officials have told Reuters that negotiations on adjusting the field exercises are still ongoing and will continue until the last minute.
North Korea has always viewed such military exercises as rehearsal for invasion and expressed strong protests against them. Currently, North Korea is holding the 9th Congress of the Workers’ Party, and analysts believe that North Korea may showcase its latest military capabilities through a military parade as a response to the joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises.