South Korean and US forces will \u00a0hold major joint drills next week simulating combat against North Korean troops battle-hardened by deployment in the Russia-Ukraine war, an exercise spokesman said Monday.<\/p>\n
The “Ulchi Freedom Shield” exercise is a regular summer fixture for South Korea’s armed forces and their US allies, designed to steel them for defence against the nuclear-armed North.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang has always been angered by the drills, decrying them as dress rehearsals for an invasion.<\/p>\n
This year’s 11-day exercise starting on August 17 will account for the changing “character of warfare”, said Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesman for the US and South Korean Combined Forces Command.<\/p>\n
“DPRK soldiers have deployed and fought in Ukraine,” he told reporters, using an acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They’ve taken those lessons they learned there and brought them back\u00a0to North Korea,” he said. “That changes the DPRK capability, and\u00a0our training accounts for that threat.”<\/p>\n
The exercise — enlisting 18,000 South Korean troops and counterparts from the US contingent of 28,500 in the country — will have a heightened focus on drone warfare, GPS disruption and the role of cyber attacks, he said.<\/p>\n
North Korea has deepened its ties with Russia since the Kremlin commanded the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang has sent troops and munitions for Moscow’s faltering war in exchange for financial support, food, energy and military technology, according to analysts.<\/p>\n
Its soldiers are also gaining experience of modern-day battlefields.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media message on Sunday that “a decision has been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia”.<\/p>\n
“They are studying this war,” he said.<\/p>\n
“If we are talking about crises and escalation in another region \u2013- in the Pacific \u2013- which could pose a threat to other Asian countries, then North Korea will certainly gain experience in modern warfare under Russia.”<\/p>\n
South Korea’s dovish President Lee Jae Myung has reversed the stance of his hawkish predecessor since taking power in June 2025, offering Pyongyang talks without preconditions.<\/p>\n
But the leadership of North Korea has yet to respond to his repeated offers.<\/p>\n
The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 war, triggered by a North Korean attack, ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.<\/p>\n
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