The war between America and Israel against Iran in the Middle East is not ending. Continuous attacks are being carried out from both sides. Iran is also giving a befitting reply to its opponents. America is engaged in the war with full alertness. Meanwhile, America has started a major military exercise with South Korea on Monday, and thousands of soldiers are participating in this exercise.
Regarding the military exercise, South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff has said that about 18 thousand Korean soldiers will participate in Freedom Shield, and it will continue till March 19. US Forces Korea has not disclosed anything about the number of American soldiers participating in military exercises in South Korea.
This mixed military exercise is taking place amid speculations in the South Korean media that Washington is removing some of its military assets from South Korea to help in the ongoing war against Iran.
Earlier last week, US Forces Korea had said that it would not say anything on the specific movement of military assets due to security reasons. South Korean officials also declined to comment on reports that some US Patriot anti-missile systems and other equipment were being moved from here to the Middle East region, but they also said that it would not have any significant impact on the joint military exercises of the two countries.
North Korea has always been angry about Freedom Shield, because it believes that this joint military exercise with South Korea is a rehearsal before the attack and they use it as an excuse to increase their military display and weapons testing. However, on the contrary, these partner countries say that this drill is merely defensive.
In 2019, after the failure of an important meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump during his first term in office, North Korea has stopped all meaningful talks with Washington and Seoul. Tensions between the two sides have also increased in recent years as Kim used Russia's invasion of Ukraine to accelerate his efforts to develop nuclear weapons and increase his influence by striking military deals with Moscow, which has taken thousands of North Korean troops and large arms shipments to help fuel its fight.
Freedom Shield is one of the biennial “command post” military exercises conducted by the Allies; The second is Ulchi Freedom Shield, which takes place in August. These drills are mostly computer-simulated and are designed to test the joint military operational capabilities of the allies by incorporating changing combat conditions and security challenges. As usual, the March drills will be accompanied by a field-training program called Warrior Shield, but the number of field exercises during Freedom Shield has been reduced to 22 from last year's 51.
