Defense minister calls for firm readiness as major combined drills under way
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, center, speaks to military officials during a meeting on the first day of the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise onMonday. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back has called for a firm readiness posture that can achieve victory with "minimum sacrifice in the shortest span of time" in the event of a war, as he presided over a meeting on the first day of a major summertime South Korea-U.S. exercise.
Ahn's remark came as the allies on Monday launched their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, set to run through Aug. 28, according to the defense ministry.
In the meeting also attended by key officials, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and key commanders, Ahn called for troops to equip themselves with "realistic" capabilities through the exercise to immediately take action when necessary.
At the same time, the defense chief also called for efforts to prioritize public safety while seeking to ease tensions to prevent a full-scale war.
While the military said this year's exercise will be held at a similar scale compared with last year, around half of some 40 planned field training exercises will be pushed back to September as part of apparent efforts by South Korea to mend frayed ties with North Korea.
The North has long denounced the allies' joint exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion against it and has a track record of staging weapons tests in response.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un denounced the combined exercise under way between Seoul and Washington as showing their will to "ignite a war" and called for a "rapid expansion" of nuclear arms, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday.