South Korea and the United States on Thursday wrapped up a major combined military exercise designed to reinforce deterrence against North Korean threats, the South’s military said, as Pyongyang remained relatively mum over the exercise it has accused of being an invasion rehearsal.
The annual computer-simulated Freedom Shield exercise drew to a close after kicking off March 4 amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang’s recent saber-rattling, including artillery firings near the western sea border and a series of missile launches.
This year’s Freedom Shield took place with an aim to improve the allies’ combined defense posture, focusing on multi-domain operations by utilizing land, sea, air, cyber and space assets, and countering the North’s nuclear operations.