https://www.wnd.com/2022/08/u-s-military-holds-drills-south-korea-amid-north-korean-chinese-threats/
The U.S. and South Korea conducted large-scale joint military drills Monday for the first time since 2017 amid increasing threats to the region from North Korea and China.
The U.S. said the operation, titled Ulchi Freedom Shield, will simulate a U.S. and South Korean (ROK) response to an invasion from the north, a rising possibility after a five-year hiatus on joint military exercises failed to temper North Korean (DPRK) aggression, Bloomberg reported. The exercises will involve tens of thousands of troops conducting drills on land, air and sea, and will conclude on Sept. 1, according to CBS News, to strengthen deterrence against Pyongyang.
“Maintaining peace on the Korean peninsula is built on our airtight security posture,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a cabinet meeting Monday, Reuters reported.
North Korea has escalated verbal threats against the U.S. and South Korea in recent months and tested a record number of weapons in 2022, firing two cruise missiles on Aug. 17, AFP reported. Meanwhile, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Aug. 3 visit to Taiwan sparked a series of Chinese aerial and naval drills mimicking an invasion of the island.