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3w ago

Allies Defer Half of Ulchi Freedom Shield Field Drills to September

Seoul and Washington cited weather concerns along with diplomatic overtures toward Pyongyang for rescheduling twenty field drills to September

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - AUGUST 07: (L to R) Col. Lee Sung-jun, public affairs director of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Col. Ryan Donald, public affairs director of the United Nations Command (UNC), Combined Forces Command (CFC), and United States Forces Korea (USFK) attend the press briefing of Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025 exercise at the Defense Ministry on August 07, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. The 11-day Freedom Shield is part of an annual combined training with troops from South Korea and the United States. Chung Sung-Jun/Pool via REUTERS
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - AUGUST 07: Col. Ryan Donald, public affairs director of the United Nations Command (UNC), Combined Forces Command (CFC), and United States Forces Korea (USFK) attends the press briefing of Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025 exercise at the Defense Ministry on August 07, 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. The 11-day Freedom Shield is part of an annual combined training with troops from South Korea and the United States. Chung Sung-Jun/Pool via REUTERS

Overview

  • Command post exercises for Ulchi Freedom Shield will run from Aug. 18 to 28 with about 18,000 South Korean and several thousand U.S. personnel.
  • Military officials described the UFS drills as defensive operations designed to strengthen wartime readiness, civil safety response and cyber defense.
  • Twenty of forty scheduled field training events were deferred to September to address extreme heat and support diplomatic gestures toward North Korea.
  • A report by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses cautioned that unilateral changes to the exercise schedule could erode U.S.-ROK alliance trust and diminish Seoul's bargaining position.
  • Forces from U.N. Command member states will join the drills and the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission will observe compliance with the Korean War armistice.