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As threat from north grows, US, South Korea to restart joint training
Jul 27, 2022SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea and the United States will restart previously suspended training during their scheduled August joint military drills, Seoul’s defense ministry said this week.
The summer military drills are an annual event between South Korea and the United States.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, said he would “normalize” joint drills, in a bid to boost deterrence against the North.
Plans call for South Korea and the United States to hold 11 joint field exercises, the ministry said.
“We plan to stage combined air carrier strike group training and drills for amphibious operations at an early date, among others,” South Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup told reporters.
In recent years, the U.S. and South Korea had reduced the scope of their combined military drills due to COVID-19, and in a bid to lower tensions with the North.
However, North Korea has conducted its largest number of missile tests ever this year, and is believed to be preparing for its seventh nuclear test.
Yoon has warned that the North Koreans could conduct the test at “any time.”
Due to North Korea’s growing missile threats to Korea’s capital Seoul, the defense ministry is seeking to improve missile detection capabilities and establishing a new interceptor system.
Yoon has said South Korea would improve the country’s missile defense system against the North’s threats.
