August 19, 2025
SEOUL – South Korea and the United States began their annual large-scale military exercise Monday, with all eyes on whether North Korea will respond with warnings or provocations.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which aims to strengthen combined defense readiness against potential threats, particularly from North Korea, will be carried out for 11 days and concludes on Aug. 28.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said this year’s exercise would be held on a scale similar to last year’s, with about 18,000 South Korean troops taking part. The level of US participation is expected to be similar, though neither the JCS nor US Forces Korea disclosed an exact figure of the US troops.
Throughout the 11 days, troops will participate in both live and computer-simulated command post exercises and field training exercises (FTX). However, of the roughly 40 FTXs planned for this year, about half, or 20, have been postponed until September.
The JCS cited extreme heat, the need to ensure training safety and efforts to maintain a balanced combined defense posture throughout the year as reasons behind the postponement.
However, observers believe the postponement of some exercises is aligned with the Lee Jae Myung administration’s gestures for an inter-Korean thaw. The decision was made after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s influential sister Kim Yo-jong criticized the exercises, saying they have “no interest” in reviving talks with Seoul, in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s state media in July.
Kim Yo-jong added in a separate statement released last week that the recent adjustment to the joint military drills “does not deserve praise and will prove futile.”
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, “Although a part of the South Korea-US joint drill has been postponed, the exercise’s overall scale has been maintained, so there is nothing for North Korea to be particularly pleased about.”
However, Pyongyang is likely to respond with a more “low-key” provocation, such as artillery drills or criticisms rather than missile tests, considering the current geopolitical situation, the Seoul-based North Korea expert added.
Pyongyang, which has typically answered the launch of the allies’ joint military drills with denunciations or weapons tests, had remained silent as of Monday noon. At times, its reactions have come almost immediately after the exercises began; other times, they have been delayed.
North Korea has long condemned the joint drills as rehearsals for an invasion amid growing speculations that Washington may reduce US Forces Korea numbers to enhance its operational flexibility.
Alongside the joint military exercise, the government will also carry out the Ulchi civil defense drill from Monday to Thursday to strengthen national emergency preparedness.
The Ulchi drill is a nationwide emergency training exercise, conducted once a year, involving hundreds of thousands of participants, including civil servants, first responders and ordinary citizens across the country. It aims to protect the lives and property of the people in the event of war, contingencies or comparable national emergencies.
This year, about 580,000 people from 4,000 institutions will participate. At 2 p.m. Wednesday, civil defense training will also be conducted, including an air raid evacuation drill and exercises to secure passage for fire engines and ambulances.
South Korea’s presidential office stressed Monday that the Ulchi drill is intended to protect the lives and safety of the people, and not to heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. This year’s Ulchi drill will be objectively evaluated so it can be improved in next year’s exercise, it said, reiterating that the fundamental purpose of this year’s drill is to safeguard lives and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com