Korea war games come at tense time
The U.S. military is preparing to launch a major military exercise with South Korea in coming days, and faces a dangerous balancing act: How do you reassure allies in the region that you are ready for a war with North Korea without provoking an actual conflict in the process?
The annual Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercise is scheduled for 10 days beginning Aug. 21, and will include about 25,000 U.S. troops along with tens of thousands of South Koreans. The exercise focuses on defending South Korea against an attack from the north, and each year triggers threats and rebukes from North Korea. But it comes at an especially sensitive time now, following the exchange of a series of threats between President Donald Trump and North Korea.
U.S. Forces Korea, the command that oversees some 28,500 American military personnel on the Korean Peninsula, has no current plans to change the size, format or messaging for this year’s exercise, said Army Col. Chad G. Carroll, a military spokesman in South Korea. The mission is planned well in advance, considered defensive in nature and allows both military forces and civilian officials to strengthen their readiness for a crisis, he said.
“We will see increased numbers [of troops] on the peninsula, but no more than we see every year,” Carroll said in an email. “Our messaging will remain consistent ... These exercises are necessary to maintain readiness in the face of provocative acts threatening the [Republic of Korea] and the U.S. Our job is provide our leadership with viable military options if called upon, and exercises like this hone our ability to do that.”
North Korea denounced the exercise Monday, warning that even an accident in the midst of it could trigger a nuclear conflict. But the war game also has drawn scrutiny this year from Russia and China, which have suggested canceling the operation to alleviate tensions. The United States has rejected that option, saying the exercise is needed to deter North Korean aggression as Washington seeks peaceful means to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development.
“This is why we have military capability that undergirds our diplomatic activities,” said Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during an appearance Monday in Seoul. “These threats are serious to us, and thus we have to be prepared.”
On Tuesday, North Korea appeared to ease up on a threat to shoot missiles toward the U.S. island territory of Guam. A state-run media outlet reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would watch the United States “a little more” rather than responding quickly, but would “make an important decision, as it already declared,” if the “Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity.”