Seoul, Mar 3 (EFE).- South Korea and the United States will carry out, according to what was reported today, their great Freedom Shield spring military maneuvers from March 13 to 23, exercises to which Pyongyang, which has been carrying out repeated tests of missiles, has said it will give an “unprecedented” response.
“The Freedom Shield is designed to strengthen the alliance’s defense and response capabilities,” he explained at a press conference in Seoul, in which spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Lee Sung-jun, and the US Forces Korea (USFK) Isaac Taylor.
Taylor indicated that the premise of the exercise will focus on elements such as “the changing security environment, aggression by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the North’s official name) and lessons learned from recent wars and conflicts.”
During the 11 days in which the Freedom shield will take place, a series of “large-scale” maneuvers will also be carried out on the ground that have “recovered the scale of Foal eagle” and which will receive the name of Warrior shield.
The Foal Eagle military exercises were regular allied ground exercises that were suspended in 2019 to try to improve the atmosphere during disarmament talks with the North Korean regime, which are currently at a standstill.
One of those new “large-scale” field drills included in Warrior shield will be an amphibious exercise “to be conducted to enhance combined operations execution capabilities,” Lee explained.
In February Pyongyang, which sees these maneuvers as a test run to invade its territory, threatened to give an “unprecedented response” to the Freedom shield.
Shortly therefollowing, he even warned that if the US goes ahead with its periodic rotating deployment of strategic assets on the peninsula and its plan to hold major military exercises with South Korea, the regime might consider these actions a “declaration of war.” .
The peninsula is experiencing a historic level of tension following 2022 in which Pyongyang, which has rejected offers to return to dialogue, carried out a record number of weapons tests and in which the allies once once more carried out large maneuvers and deployed strategic assets such as nuclear powered aircraft carriers or bombers.
Given the apparent lack of will to promote détente on both sides, experts have pointed out the growing danger of a miscalculation that might have fatal consequences.
(c) EFE Agency
