The United States and South Korea will conduct the Freedom Shield (FS) exercise, a theater-level combined military drill to prepare for contingencies on the Korean Peninsula, from March 9 to 19.
Jang Do-young, spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ryan Donald, spokesperson for U.S. Forces Korea, announced the schedule during a joint briefing at the JCS headquarters in Yongsan on the 25th.
"The FS exercise is a defensive drill that the two allies conduct annually," they said.
Military authorities from both countries explained the significance of this year's exercise: "By incorporating recent lessons learned and the challenging battlefield environment into the exercise scenario, this will strengthen the combined defense posture of the U.S.-ROK alliance, including 'combined and joint all-domain operations,' and continue preparations for the 'conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control' agreed upon by both nations."
However, field training exercises (FTX) during this year's FS period have reportedly been scaled back compared to last year. The reduced FTX components will be distributed throughout the year. During the FS exercise, the allies conduct FTX linked to command post exercise (CPX) scenarios.
This adjustment appears to reflect views from some government officials, including Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who argued that training should be modified to create conditions for resuming U.S.-North Korea dialogue ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's planned visit to China in late March to early April.