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S Korea-US-joint drills

S. Korea, U.S. kick off annual key springtime military exercise

SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States kicked off a key annual joint springtime military exercise Monday, with the number of planned field training drills cut in half compared with last year.

The allies launched the Freedom Shield (FS) exercise, which will run through March 19, aimed at strengthening their combined defense posture.

This year's FS exercise will be focused on assessing conditions to achieve the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul.

South Korea has been seeking to achieve the "conditions-based" handover of wartime command from the U.S. within President Lee Jae Myung's five-year term that ends in 2030.

Some 18,000 troops are expected to take part in the drills, a scale similar to the previous year, where they will engage in realistic wartime scenarios reflecting aspects of modern warfare.

The allies plan to conduct 22 field training drills during this year's FS exercise, around half of the 51 on-field drills staged last year under the conservative government of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The administration of President Lee Jae Myung has been seeking to disperse on-field training drills throughout the year, rather than concentrating them during the FS exercise or the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise in August.

The move comes as Seoul seeks to create favorable grounds for possible dialogue between North Korea and the U.S. ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's scheduled visit to China on March 31-April 2.

North Korea has long denounced the Seoul-Washington combined military exercise as rehearsals for invasion, often engaging in provocations, including firing ballistic missiles, in protest of the drills.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries have conducted the FS exercise, which features computer simulation-based command post exercises in March.

U.S. military vehicles are parked at a U.S. base in Dongducheon, north of Seoul, as the allies kick off an annual springtime exercise on March 5, 2026. (Yonhap)

sookim@yna.co.kr

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S. Korea, U.S. kick off annual key springtime military exercise

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