'Evolving threat' from North Korea forces US and South Korea to begin joint military drills

The United States and South Korea have started their biggest joint military drills in years in response to the 'evolving threat' from North Korea.

Due to North Korea's 'increased missile tests'

The annual summertime drills, which have been renamed Ulchi Freedom Shield this year, started today Monday 22 August and are set to conclude on 1 September.

In a joint statement, the two militaries said the exercises were a result of the 'increased volume and scale of [North Korean] missile tests' over the last year. They continued, as reported by The Guardian:

With this in mind, and considering the evolving threat … both leaders committed to expanding the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training.

They added that the drills would 'bolster combined readiness.' The South Korean defence ministry said:

The significance of this joint exercise is rebuilding the South Korea-US alliance and solidifying the combined defence posture by normalising … combined exercises and field training.

The exercises are the biggest since 2017, as reported by Reuters. At first, they were scaled back so that the former President of South Korea could create space for diplomacy with the North and restart talks with Pyongyang. Then, they were scaled back due to Covid-19.

While Washington and Seoul call their activities defensive, Pyongyang describes them as a rehearsal for invasion that justify its development of nuclear weapons and missiles, as per Al Jazeera.

Tens of thousands of troops expected

In the past, Pyongyang has responded to the exercises with missile launches.Indeed, just last week, North Korea fired two cruise missiles from the west coast, after South Korea and the US began preliminary training for the drills.

Details of the operation are not yet known, however previous exercises have involved tens of thousands of troopsand vast numbers of aircraft, warships, and tanks.

Are North Korea and Russia teaming up?

It comes as Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin have been writing to each other amid 'hostile military forces' from the West. Russia and North Korea are looking to strengthen their ties in pursuit of 'shared interests'in the face of 'global threats.'

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