US, S. Korea Shelve Plans to Announce Date of Springtime Exercise

(MENAFN) The United States and South Korea have shelved plans to formally announce the date of their flagship springtime military exercise after a dispute emerged over the scope of on-field training, exposing a rare crack in one of Asia's most consequential defense alliances.

Seoul-based media reported Sunday that the two militaries had been set to jointly announce the exercise at a press briefing Wednesday, but the announcement was pushed back after the US military signaled resistance to South Korea's push to pare down field training components of the Freedom Shield exercise.

The annual Freedom Shield drill, conducted each spring under a full-scale war simulation scenario, is designed to sharpen allied readiness against North Korea's "advancing nuclear and weapons programs." The exercise has long served as a cornerstone of the US-South Korea deterrence posture on the peninsula.

The friction stems from the administration of President Lee Jae Myung, which has moved to curtail on-field drills in what observers widely interpret as a conciliatory signal toward Pyongyang — which has consistently condemned the joint exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.

Washington's pushback has been pointed. The US military has reportedly rejected Seoul's proposal, particularly given that additional American troops and equipment have already been deployed to South Korea in preparation for the drills — making a scaled-back exercise a logistically and politically awkward outcome.

Both sides are expected to resume coordination and formally announce the exercise later this month or in early March. Seoul's Defense Ministry moved to tamp down concerns in the interim, insisting that the Freedom Shield exercise, scheduled for March, "will take place normally."

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