(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) TOKYO, Aug 18 (KUNA) -- South Korea and the US kicked off a major combined military exercise on Monday to bolster their joint defense readiness against North Korea's threats while rescheduling about half of the field training exercises to next month, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which runs for 11 days through August 28, involves drills incorporating "realistic" threats aimed at enhancing the allies' capabilities across all domains, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. Some 18,000 South Korean troops will be mobilized for this year's drills.
While the JCS said this year's exercise will be held on a similar scale compared with last year, around half of some 40 planned field training exercises will be pushed back to September as part of apparent efforts by South Korea to mend frayed ties with North Korea, the report said.
The North has long denounced the allies' joint exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion against it and has a track record of staging weapons tests in response.
In an August 10 statement, Pyongyang's Defense Minister No Kwang-chol denounced the large-scale exercise and warned of exercising his country's "self-defense" right in the event of a provocation.
Presiding over a National Security Council meeting in Seoul on Monday, South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung stressed that the exercise is not aimed at contingencies against North Korea or at heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula, according to the report.
The exercise will be held alongside a four-day civil defense exercise that runs through Thursday, mobilizing about 580,000 civilians and will include efforts to fend off attacks from drones and cyberattacks. (end)
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