US, South Korea planning major military exercises amid tensions with North Korea

The U.S. and South Korea will launch an 11-day navy train on the Korean Peninsula starting subsequent week as tensions proceed to rise with North Korea after Pyongyang deserted reconciliation with Seoul and has re-militarized the border.

Freedom Defend 2024 is ready to run from March 4-14, U.S. Forces Korea mentioned this week, and the drills will contain digital and subject coaching throughout a number of domains, together with land, sea, air, house and cyber.

The drills will even deal with countering nuclear capabilities, which comes after North Korea has ramped up missile checks and elevated its arsenal of nuclear weapons lately.

A number of nations from United Nations Command, a gaggle shaped to guard South Korea, will even assist the workouts — together with Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, France, the U.Okay., Greece, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand.

U.S. navy spokesperson Col. Isaac Taylor mentioned at a press convention that the navy workouts will “improve interoperability and improve the mixed operation capabilities of the alliance.”

The workouts are prone to infuriate North Korean Chief Kim Jong Un, who has reacted up to now to joint navy drills with extra aggression, together with test-firing ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Kim, who has drawn nearer to Russia throughout its warfare in Ukraine and equipped Moscow with artillery and weapons, has moved even farther from any hopes of a peaceable settlement with South Korea.

In January, Kim declared North Korea would not search peaceable unification with South Korea and ordered the tearing down of a statue symbolizing that objective. He is also looking for to outline South Korea as its most hostile overseas adversary within the structure.

The tensions have additionally risen on the border after Kim launched a spy satellite tv for pc into house final 12 months, which led to the abandoning of a 2018 navy discount settlement and no-fly zone on the border.

North Korea has since restored border guard posts on the border.