[Comprehensive] US-ROK UFS Exercises Begin on the 19th... Possibility of North Korean Provocations [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]

South Korea and the U.S. to Conduct in Two Phases by the 29th
Applying UFS Scenarios Including Cyber Attacks

The second half of this year's South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise, 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' (UFS), will be officially conducted from the 19th. Authorities are closely monitoring the situation as North Korea may provoke during this UFS period.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to South Korea-U.S. military authorities on the 12th, this UFS will be conducted in two phases from the 19th to the 29th of this month. The first phase will be held from the 19th to the 23rd in conjunction with the government exercise (Ulchi Exercise), and the second phase will be conducted solely by the military from the 26th to the 29th. Prior to this, a four-day crisis management exercise (CMX), a preliminary exercise for UFS, will be conducted at the military level from the 13th to the 16th of this month.

The South Korea-U.S. military authorities decided to reflect realistic threats such as the increasing missile threats from North Korea, GPS signal jamming and cyberattacks, threats on land, sea, and air, and recent warfare patterns in this UFS scenario. Our military plans to support government departments' wartime preparedness exercises and actual training for cyberattack and terrorism response, as well as public safety support, to enhance the government's all-out national mobilization capability to protect the lives and safety of the people.

For the first time, a government exercise assuming a North Korean nuclear attack situation will be conducted. A Joint Chiefs of Staff official explained, "The first government exercise assuming a North Korean nuclear attack situation will be conducted during the UFS exercise period," adding, "Units will also participate in civilian evacuation drills."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that the UFS exercise scenario will reflect realistic threats such as North Korea's missile threats, GPS jamming and cyberattacks, threats on land, sea, and air, and recent warfare patterns.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During the first phase of the government departments' wartime preparedness exercise, defensive training assuming the use of North Korean nuclear weapons will also be conducted. In this regard, the 'North Korean Nuclear Response Civilian Protection Headquarters' will be operated under the Prime Minister's chairmanship, and some units of our military will support this training. Prior to this, from the 30th of last month for three days, the U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, 'Camp Humphreys,' conducted the first-ever nuclear-conventional integrated tabletop exercise (CNI TTX) 'Iron Mace 2024,' assuming the use of North Korean nuclear weapons, where U.S. nuclear forces and our conventional forces jointly defended and counterattacked.

During the second phase, various joint field training exercises (FTX), including the Ssangryong joint amphibious landing exercise, as well as live-fire exercises in land, sea, and air domains, will be conducted. Multi-domain operations using various assets focusing on countering North Korea's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) will also take place. Notably, during this UFS period, U.S. strategic assets will be deployed on the Korean Peninsula to conduct joint training with our forces.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

About 19,000 troops will participate in this year's UFS exercise, similar to previous years, but the number of field training exercises has increased to 48, more than in previous years. Verification for the establishment of the Republic of Korea Strategic Command will also be conducted during the UFS exercise period. The Strategic Command, to be established under the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the second half of this year, will integrate command of the military's strategic assets such as Hyunmoo-series ballistic missiles, stealth fighters, and 3,000-ton class submarines, and will be tasked with deterring enemy nuclear and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) attacks. The Republic of Korea Strategic Command will also serve as a counterpart to the U.S. Strategic Command, which controls intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), and nuclear early warning systems.

UFS will include participation from United Nations Command member countries, and the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission will observe compliance with the armistice agreement. However, Germany, which joined as a United Nations Command member on the 2nd, will not participate in this UFS.

Meanwhile, South Korea-U.S. military authorities are closely watching the possibility that North Korea, which has opposed the joint exercises every time by claiming they are 'war exercises for invading the North,' may provoke during this UFS period. On May 16, North Korea threatened, saying, "Due to the created situation and its nature, it is already called a 'nuclear attack exercise,'" and warned, "The disastrous consequences should be considered first."

Last August, during UFS, North Korea conducted a full military command training aiming at 'complete control of the southern half of the territory' (August 28) and tactical nuclear attack training (August 30 and September 2).