Marine Corps participates in multinational peacekeeping drills in Mongolia

Participating nations pose after completing a convoy mission during the Khaan Quest exercise, which ran from June 20 to July 3 near Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on June 21. Courtesy of Republic of Korea Marine Corps

Korea's Marine Corps has participated in a multinational peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia aimed at strengthening interoperability with participating forces, the armed service said Friday.

The Khaan Quest exercise, held from June 20 to July 3, took place near Ulaanbaatar involving some 700 troops from 17 nations, including the United States, India, Britain and Germany.

During the drills, the troops conducted a field training exercise in a simulated contingency scenario in a disputed region.

Notably, this year's exercise involved the Marine Corps integrating advanced combat systems, such as gun sights and high-performance magnifiers, onto its K2C1 rifles to improve training outcomes.

On Tuesday, Gen. Xavier Brunson, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, visited the training site, where he stressed the need for deeper multinational cooperation among U.S. allies and partners.

Launched in 2003, Khaan Quest began as a bilateral exercise between Mongolia and the U.S., before growing into a multinational peacekeeping exercise involving U.S. allies and partners in the Pacific region.

Korea has participated in Khaan Quest since 2006, with its Army and the Marine Corps taking turns to attend the annual exercise since 2014, except for a two-year pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Marine Corps plans to continue strengthening its joint operation capabilities by taking part in a range of drills, including the Korea Marine Exercise Program with U.S. marines set for later this year.