The US and South Korea have begun their largest joint military drills in years to show their power and capabilities to North Kora who ramped up tension in Korean Peninsula.
The exercises, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, are being seen as a sign of the allies’ determination to restore large-scale training after they cancelled some regular drills and scaled down others to facilitate nuclear talks.
Details of the drills have not been disclosed, but past exercises have involved tens of thousands of troops, along with large numbers of aircraft warships and tanks.
The military drill will reportedly include simulated joint attacks, frontline reinforcements of arms and fuel, and removals of weapons of mass destruction.
The two militaries said in a joint statement said the drills were a response to an “increased volume and scale of [North Korean] missile tests” over the past year.
“With this in mind, and considering the evolving threat … both leaders committed to expanding the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training, they said.
Ulchi Freedom Shield would “bolster combined readiness,” they added.
The drills, which will end on 1 September, began against a backdrop of increasingly hostile rhetoric from the North.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
