The US and South Korea announced they will hold the annual Freedom Shield war games in March.
Freedom Shield is a large-scale military drill held in South Korea each Spring. The war games will run for 10 days in mid-March, with 18,000 troops participating. Army Col. Ryan Donald said the war games will be accompanied by a field training program called “Warrior Shield.”
The annual war games are viewed in Pyongyang as preparations for an aggressive war against North Korea. North Korea typically responds with fiery rhetoric and missile tests.
Pyongyang has stated that it is no longer interested in reunification with South Korea or discussion with Seoul. North Korean officials have said they are willing to engage in talks with the US if Washington drops the demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons.
Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un believes that nuclear weapons are preventing the US from invading. He views the US wars in Iraq, Libya, Venezuela, and Iran as proof that nuclear weapons are the only deterrent to US regime change.
The Freedom Shield announcement comes as North Korea is holding the Workers’ Party conference.
