A soldier from the U.S. Military’s 1st Armored Brigade Fight Workforce, 1st Armored Division, prepares for a live-fire drill on the Rodriguez Dwell Hearth Complicated in Pocheon, South Korea, August 14, 2024. File | Picture credit score: Reuters
South Korea and the USA kicked off their annual summer time navy workouts on Monday (August 19, 2024), looking for to bolster their joint readiness to defend towards North Korea’s weapons and cyber threats.
The Ulchi Freedom Defend workouts, which finish on August 29, come as North Korea races to advance its nuclear and missile applications and seeks to launch reconnaissance satellites. The drills will replicate “life like threats” throughout the board, together with North Korean missile threats but in addition GPS jamming, cyberattacks and different classes discovered from latest incidents, the militaries of each international locations have stated.
“South Korea will individually conduct simultaneous government-led Ulchi civil protection workouts within the situation of a nuclear assault by the North,” the officers stated.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has known as for a stance of full preparedness towards North Korea, calling it “probably the most reckless and irrational nation on this planet.”
“As seen in Ukraine and within the conflicts within the Center East, warfare can escape at any time,” he advised a cupboard assembly. “The character of warfare has additionally modified from the previous, and is waged in a hybrid approach that mixes common, irregular and cyber warfare, and even psychological and public opinion warfare utilizing faux information.”
“Round 19,000 South Korean troops will take part, just like final 12 months, in 48 rounds of mixed discipline coaching, which is able to embody discipline maneuvers, live-fire and amphibious workouts,” Yoon stated.
Pyongyang has lengthy denounced the allies for stoking tensions with navy workouts, calling them rehearsals for nuclear warfare.
Seoul and Washington say the workouts are defensive and a response to threats from North Korea.
