Lee Sung Joon, left, public affairs director of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), shakes hand with his U.S. Forces Korea counterpart Ryan Donald during a press briefing of the Freedom Shield exercise at the JCS headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Lee Sung Joon, left, public affairs director of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and his U.S. Forces Korea counterpart Ryan Donald attend a press briefing of the Freedom Shield exercise at the JCS headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier is escorted into a navy port in Busan, South Korea, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (Son Hyung-ju/Yonhap via AP)
U.S. F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets are seen on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson at a port in Busan, South Korea, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, Pool)
South Korea army's K1A2 tanks move during the joint military drill between South Korea and the United States at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Yonhap via AP)
A South Korea army's K1A2 tank fires during the joint military drill between South Korea and the United States at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Yonhap via AP)
U.S. marines participate in a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States in Pohang, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Son Dae-sung/Yonhap via AP)
U.S. marines's Light Armored Vehicles move during a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States in Pohang, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Son Dae-sung/Yonhap via AP)
South Korea and U.S. marines attend a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States in Pohang, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Son Dae-sung/Yonhap via AP)
Lee Sung Joon, left, public affairs director of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), shakes hand with his U.S. Forces Korea counterpart Ryan Donald during a press briefing of the Freedom Shield exercise at the JCS headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Lee Sung Joon, left, public affairs director of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and his U.S. Forces Korea counterpart Ryan Donald attend a press briefing of the Freedom Shield exercise at the JCS headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean and U.S. troops will begin their large annual joint military drills next week to enhance readiness against North Korean threats, the allies announced Thursday, days after North Korea threatened high-profile provocations against what it called escalating U.S.-led aggression.
However, the announcement was overshadowed by the news of two on a civilian area during a joint live-fire exercise with the U.S. military earlier Thursday.
Eight people were injured and South Korea's military halted all live-fire drills across the country.
The allies have already begun joint field training for the March 10-20 command post exercise dubbed , South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The accidental bombing happened during one of the joint training exercises, though there were no U.S. soldiers involved in the incident.
South Korean military spokesperson Lee Sung Joon and his U.S. counterpart, Ryan Donald, told a joint news conference that the training is meant to strengthen their countries' combined defense posture by reflecting evolving challenges such as
Lee said the two allies plan 16 brigade-level field trainings this year, up from 10 such drills last year.
It was unclear how long the live-fire suspension would last. Military officials said they can restart firing exercises once authorities determine the cause of Thursday's accident and take steps to prevent recurrences.
An initial investigation indicated one of the KF-16 pilots had entered wrong coordinates for a bombing site.
North Korea views major as an invasion rehearsal and often reacts with missile tests and fiery rhetoric.
Earlier this week, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused the United States of intensifying confrontational actions and threatened to ramp up measures “threatening the security of the enemy at the strategic level.†She cited the recent temporary deployments of U.S. strategic assets like and other U.S.-involved military activities.
Observers say North Korea could test-fire powerful designed to strike the U.S. mainland and American military bases in the region.
Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Donald again to revive diplomacy. North Korea has not responded to Trump's remarks and says U.S. hostilities against it has deepened since Trump’s inauguration.
During 2018 and 2019, met three times to discuss potential benefits for North Korea should it return to nuclear disarmament. But their diplomacy eventually fell apart after Trump rejected Kim’s offer to dismantle his main nuclear complex, a limited denuclearization step, in exchange of extensive sanctions relief.
The ºÃÉ«tv Press. All rights reserved.
Canada is entering a new era of nation-building. From clean-energy corridors and c…
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
