South Korean JCS chief General Kim Seung-kyum (center) meets with troops taking part in the Teak Knife exercise on February 27, 2023. (Photo published by the JCS. Resale and archiving prohibited)
SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) — The South Korean military chief has inspected combined special operations exercises with the United States and urged troops to maintain capabilities to strike critical enemy facilities without error, he said Thursday. , his office.
General Kim Seung-Kyum, chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), checked the readiness of the troops, during Monday’s segment of the exercise. Teak Knifewhich involves the special commandos of the two countries, an AC-130J gunship plane and an MC-130J multi-mission combat transport aircraft.
His visit to the exercise came amid concerns that North Korea might carry out provocations in response to the allies’ regular Freedom Shield exercise, due to begin this month.
The JCS said in a press release that Kim stressed the importance of leveraging the capability to flawlessly attack critical enemy installations and establish a wartime combined operations posture by enhancing interoperability between allies through a “realistic” joint special operations training.
Kim also pointed to the growing provocative threats from the North, while stressing the need to establish capabilities and a posture that can inflict “critical damage” on the enemy and force a victorious resolution of the conflict.
It is the first time the AC-130J has been sent to the Korean Peninsula for allied exercises, according to the JCS. The aircraft is equipped with several strike assets, including the GBU-39 precision guided glider bomb.
(FIN)
