Overview

• The annual Freedom Shield military exercises between the US and South Korea started on Monday and will run through March 20, focusing on readiness against regional threats.
• Live-fire training has been suspended after two South Korean fighter jets mistakenly dropped bombs on a civilian area during a pre-exercise drill, injuring 30 people, including two seriously.
• South Korea's air force attributed the bombing to pilot error involving incorrect coordinates and a failure to visually confirm the target before bombing.
• North Korea condemned the drills as a 'dangerous provocative act,' warning they could escalate tensions and lead to accidental conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
• The exercises mark the largest joint military drills since President Donald Trump began his second term, occurring against the backdrop of heightened North Korean rhetoric and nuclear ambitions.