South Korean media: South Korea and the U.S. launch joint military exercises "Freedom Shield"
According to Yonhap News Agency, the joint military exercises named "Freedom Shield" (FS) were launched on the 9th.
The report said that the exercise will last until the 19th of this month, with about 18,000 troops participating, and the scale is basically the same as last year. During the exercise, South Korea and the U.S. will conduct a total of 22 field training exercises (FTX), which is less than half of the same period last year (51 times).
It is reported that during the previous administration, South Korea and the U.S. mainly concentrated on field training exercises during the "Freedom Shield" exercise (March) and the "Ulsan Freedom Shield" (UFS, August). However, the current administration tends to distribute these training exercises throughout the year. Analysts believe that South Korea and the U.S. may have considered the opinion that "it is necessary to adjust the scale of the exercise to create conditions for the resumption of inter-Korea and U.S.-North Korea dialogue when U.S. President Trump visits China from March 31 to April 2", and thus significantly reduced the number of field training exercises.
Yonhap News Agency said that North Korea has always been sensitive to South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, defining them as "invasion exercises". This time, it may also carry out military demonstrations by launching ballistic missiles.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859141817949191/
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