▲ South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung (2nd from L) talks with U.S. Gen. Xavier Brunson (2nd from R), chief of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, as he visits CP Tango, or Command Post Theater Air Naval Ground Operations, in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on March 11, 2026, in this photo released by the JCS. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ A U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopter airlifts a pontoon bridge during a joint South Korea-U.S. river-crossing drill at the Imjin River in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, on March 14, 2026. The maneuver was conducted as part of the annual Freedom Shield combined exercise. (Yonhap)

S Korea-US-joint drills

S. Korea, U.S. conclude key springtime military drills amid N. Korean threats

By Lee Minji

SEOUL, March 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States wrapped up their annual Freedom Shield (FS) exercise Thursday aimed at strengthening their combined readiness posture, amid North Korea's verbal threats and the launch of some 10 ballistic missiles.

The major springtime exercise, involving realistic wartime scenarios reflecting trends in modern warfare, drew to an end after an 11-day run, their militaries said in a joint statement.

"The Republic of Korea and the United States successfully concluded FS 26, reaffirming a strong combined defense posture and further enhancing the alliance's ability to conduct operations across all domains," the statement said, referring to South Korea by its formal name.

This year's exercise focused on assessing conditions to achieve the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul as South Korea seeks a "conditions-based" handover within President Lee Jae Myung's five-year term ending in 2030.

Some 18,000 troops took part in the drills, a scale similar to the previous year, but the number of field training exercises halved to around 22, compared with 51 on-field drills conducted last year under the conservative government of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The Lee administration has been seeking to disperse on-field training drills throughout the year, in what was seen as efforts to establish favorable grounds for possible talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"Freedom Shield demonstrates the strength of our alliance and our ability to train, build readiness, and operate seamlessly as one force," said U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson, who also serves as the commander of the Combined Forces Command.

"No other alliance trains as we do from competition, to crisis, to conflict all with an eye to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia," he said.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung noted the significance of this year's exercise amid preparations for the handover of wartime command.

"As we prepare for the OPCON transfer, this year's FS reaffirmed the common value of peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula shared between ROK and U.S., and elevated our robust combined defense posture and combined operational capabilities to the next level," Jin said.

The North has long denounced the allies' combined military drills as a rehearsal for an invasion, though Seoul and Washington maintain the exercises are purely defensive.

Earlier this month, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North's leader Kim, condemned the combined military drills and warned of "unimaginably terrible consequences."

Last week, the North fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the East Sea in an apparent show of force. Pyongyang later said it conducted a firepower strike drill involving 600-millimeter ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers, attended by Kim.

Freedom Shield is one of the allies' two major annual exercises that train troops based on an all-out war scenario. The other exercise -- Ulchi Freedom Shield -- usually takes place in August.

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