S. Korea, US to hold large-scale military exercises

South Korea and the United States will conduct a major joint exercise this month to strengthen their combined readiness posture, the allies said Thursday, but added that around half of some 40 planned field training exercises will be rescheduled to next month, Report informs via Yonhap.

The announcement came amid speculation that the allies may push back some field training tied to the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise until after September as South Korea seeks to mend frayed ties with North Korea.

The UFS exercise is set to take place from August 18-28 and involves drills incorporating "realistic" threats aimed at enhancing the allies' capabilities across all domains, their militaries said.

"The iteration of the UFS '25 will be executed on a similar scale to the previous iteration," Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said in a press briefing, noting some 18,000 South Korean personnel will take part in the upcoming drills.

"However, the military has comprehensively assessed based on multiple factors, including ensuring training conditions, due to the recent heat wave, as well as maintaining a balanced ROK-US combined readiness posture ... and made the decision to reschedule certain training events to next month," Lee said.

ROK refers to the acronym of South Korea's formal name, the Republic of Korea.

The official, however, said training events linked with the combined exercise scenario or involving deployed assets or personnel to the Korean Peninsula by the US military will proceed as planned.