From Today, Phase 2 of ROK-US Joint Exercises... North Korea Protests Pyongyang Counterattack

For the First Time This Year, a South Korean Army General Commands
North Korea Condemns as "Preemptive Attack and Northern Invasion War"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] From today, the second phase of the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise "Ulchi Freedom Shield" (UFS) will be conducted. A counterattack operation will be executed in which South Korea-U.S. combined forces launch a counteroffensive against North Korean troops to secure the safety of the Seoul metropolitan area.

According to military authorities on the 29th, during the first phase (22nd?26th), the exercise assumed a situation where the "crisis" created by North Korean provocations during the "crisis management exercise" period (16th?19th) escalated into full-scale war. The South Korea-U.S. combined forces switched to wartime posture and repelled North Korean attacks. During the first phase, the Ulchi exercise was also conducted to practice the transition of government ministries to wartime systems and the execution of total national mobilization.

The South Korea-U.S. militaries are consecutively conducting a total of 13 combined field training exercises (FTX) during this UFS period. In the second phase, combined forces will conduct attack helicopter firing drills and maritime patrol operations, among others.

This year, UFS is being commanded for the first time by Lieutenant General Ahn Byung-seok, Deputy Commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

During this UFS period, the Full Operational Capability (FOC) evaluation of the future combined command led by the South Korean military is being conducted according to the "conditional wartime operational control transfer plan" between South Korea and the U.S. The FOC evaluation is the second stage of a three-stage assessment to evaluate the theater operational capability of the future combined command, which is commanded by a four-star general of the South Korean military.

Meanwhile, North Korea fiercely condemned the exercise, calling it a "plan to advance to Pyongyang."

The external propaganda media Uri Minjokkkiri stated in an article titled "No Matter How Much You Paint a Crow White, It Cannot Become an Egret" on the same day, "The U.S. and South Korean puppet warmongers have started the second phase 'counterattack' exercise following the first phase of 'Ulchi Freedom Shield,'" and claimed, "The second phase exercise is clearly, like the first phase, a North invasion attack exercise to militarily seize our republic by force."

In particular, the media criticized, "The very plan to advance through Kaesong to Pyongyang itself means that the warmongers have made the joint military exercise a fait accompli for a preemptive attack-based North invasion war rather than a defensive purpose."

Another propaganda outlet, Chosun Ilbo's "Chosun of Today," also claimed, "By openly stating that the U.S. and South Korean puppet military clique aim to advance to the southern boundary line of Pyongyang, they have fully revealed the aggressive nature of this war exercise."