[Anchor]
South Korean and U.S. military authorities have announced that the South Korea-U.S. joint command post exercise, Freedom Shield, will begin on the 9th of next month. However, they were unable to disclose the schedule for the allied field training linked to Freedom Shield, citing that it is still being coordinated. It is unprecedented to announce the overall exercise dates while failing to finalize the schedule for the field training.
This is Defense Correspondent Kim Taehun.
[Reporter]
The South Korea-U.S. joint exercise Freedom Shield, to be held from the 9th to the 19th of next month, is a type of wargame conducted in indoor command posts such as military underground bunkers.
The South Korean and U.S. military authorities run wargame scenarios to block provocations by North Korea's conventional forces and deter North Korea's nuclear weapons.
The number of South Korean and U.S. troops mobilized is 18,000.
During the same period, large-scale field training involving equipment and troops from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps will also take place.
[Ryan Donald / Chief of Public Affairs, United States Forces Korea: By conducting the Alliance's training, Warrior Shield, essential for the defense of the Republic of Korea and linked to the exercise scenario during the joint exercise period....]
However, the South Korean and U.S. military authorities have not yet finalized the scale or schedule of this field training.
[Jang Dong-young / Public Affairs Officer, Joint Chiefs of Staff: Field maneuvers during the exercise period are being closely consulted between South Korea and the U.S.]
This means that even though the joint command post exercise period has been set and equipment from U.S. forces abroad has been brought in, it is still not determined where and what kind of field training will be conducted.
This is the first time that plans for field training have remained unestablished even by the time the exercise plans were officially announced.
It is known that the South Korean and U.S. military authorities are experiencing difficulties in agreeing on the exercise schedule as the South Korean government insists on reducing field training to create conditions for inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S. dialogue.
With friction reportedly showing in consultations between the South Korean and U.S. military authorities over the U.S. Air Force's solo drills over the Yellow Sea and the review of the partial restoration of the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement, some point out that even the joint exercises, the biggest military event of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, are showing a lack of synchronization.
(Video Journalist: Kim Hyun-sang, Video Editor: Chae Chul-ho)
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