South Korea and the United States kicked off a major annual joint military exercise Monday to strengthen their combined defense capabilities against North Korean military threats.The allies began the Freedom Shield exercise, which runs through March 20, in the face of North Korea's continued weapons development and deepening military cooperation with Russia, according to South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap).This year's exercise marks their first major military exercise since US President Donald Trump took office in January, with the US military having reaffirmed its security commitment to South Korea.The 11-day drills feature computer-simulated drills and on-field training, aimed at strengthening interoperability between the allies.South Korea will deploy some 19,000 troops for the exercise, with the two sides planning to stage 16 large-scale on-field drills, up from 10 last year, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.’The ironclad commitment to the Republic of Korea is as strong as ever. We are fully in Freedom Shield 2025. What we are doing right now is building our readiness, capabilities to defend the Republic of Korea against any threat,’ spokesperson for the US Forces Korea (USFK) Col. Ryan Donald said in a press briefing last week.In contrast, North Korea denounced joint military drills by South Korea and the United States as a ‘dangerous provocative act.’Freedom Shield is one of the allies' two major annual exercises that train troops based on an all-out war scenario. The other exercise — Ulchi Freedom Shield — usually takes place in August.
