Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Korea, US see problems with coordination over military drills
U.S. troops inspect armored vehicles and equipment at a U.S. military base in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 19, 2025, during the Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) joint military exercise. Newsis
By Bahk Eun-ji
Korea and the United States have seen problems in coordination in recent military activities.
The latest issue involved a U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) drill conducted over the West Sea without detailed prior coordination with Korea’s military.
According to military sources, the United States on Jan. 15 proposed a trilateral air exercise with Korea and Japan. The proposed timing overlapped with the Lunar New Year holiday period and came shortly before Japan’s “Takeshima Day,” in which Japan renews its claim over Korea's easternmost Dokdo islets. This timing prompted Seoul to request adjustments.
Korea suggested either bringing the exercise forward to distance it from the date or holding a Korea-U.S. bilateral drill afterward. Washington later informed Seoul on Feb. 5 that it would proceed with a U.S.-only exercise, the sources said.
But the U.S. conducted joint air drills with Japan on Feb. 16 and 18 over the East Sea and the East China Sea. The exercises involved four B-52 strategic bombers and Japanese fighter aircraft.
USFK also carried out a solo drill over waters west of the Korean Peninsula on Feb. 18. During the drill, U.S. fighter jets based in Korea flew multiple sorties from Osan Air Base toward an area near China’s Air Defense Identification Zone.
Chinese aircraft were scrambled in response, and the situation developed into a standoff, according to defense sources. Korea’s Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jin Young-seung later protested by phone to the USFK commander.
Another issue arose over the upcoming Freedom Shield joint exercise slated for next month. The plan has not been announced yet, while Seoul and Washington continue to discuss the scale of the field training components. South Korea reportedly proposed reducing the scale of large-scale field maneuvers, while U.S. officials expressed concern because troops and equipment had already begun moving, sources said.
The ministry claimed the recent issues do not mean a lack of coordination between the allies.
“The recent U.S.-Japan drills are unrelated to trilateral exercises under Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation,” a ministry official said. “Trilateral cooperation will continue steadily based on close coordination among the three countries.”
Defense Ministry spokesperson Chung Binna said during a regular briefing on Monday that “coordination on the timing, format, participation and scope of alliance exercises is conducted on a routine basis.”
Asked about the upcoming Freedom Shield joint exercise, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Col. Jang Do-young said that Seoul and Washington are “closely coordinating” on the drills and will announce details on timing, scale and format once consultations are complete.