Amid the rising tensions in Indo Pacific region, South Korea and the USA launched regular joint military exercises, drill including field training for the first time in four years.
The tensions in the Indo pacific region have been sparking since china began prolonged and provocative live fire exercises. To melt down this action, South Korea and USA together launched military exercises called ‘Ulchi freedom shield’ on august 22.
These drills will continue till September 1 according to the Yonhap news agency. It will include computer simulations, field training, and civil defense drills.
These drills are the aftermath of south Korean president Yoon’s election in May and his resolve to deter North Korea.
As said by Yoon these drills aim to prepare the country and match the changing patterns of war with the increasing cyber threats.
Furthermore, Seoul officials told, that North Korea so far has conducted multiple unprecedented missile tests this year and is all set to conduct its seventh nuclear test. North Korea also happened to test fire a hypersonic missile in January 2022.
With these American f-35 stealth fighters arrived in South Korea this year after their first official meet since 2017 for ten days.
Uncovering the motive behind drills
China can also feel the heat rising, as reported by Chinese state media global times, the biggest us-south Korea drills will intensify the tensions in the Asia Pacific region.
This drill has more meaning as US and china relations are soaring especially after the visit of us house speaker nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
Not only this but these drills counter north Korea, give an edge to our military might and deter China.
Significance of this joint drill
surely these drills hold a magnitude which is more than the 2017 drills. Yoon’s predecessor referred to these drills as a practice for an invasion.
According to Seoul’s defense ministry, both countries together will hold 11 field exercises this summer, one including thousands of soldiers at the brigade level.
The first part of the drills will include the armed forces of both countries will practice repelling north Korea and securing major South Korean cities.
The second phase will include missions to launch counterattacks.
During these exercises, soldiers of America and South Korea will be trained using real-world set-ups in 13 integrated training programs.
It will also include the handover of operational command from us to South Korea and a thorough evaluation of operational capacity.
Due to covid-19, such military exercises occurred in computer simulations.
The military drills are more likely to fuel up the heat in the Asia Pacific region which would affect peace and stability in all of Asia.
