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As the main yearly springtime exercise between the allies came to an end, South Korea conducted live-fire tank maneuvers on Thursday close to the inter-Korean border, involving US military engineers, according to the Army.
According to Yonhap news agency, the exercises were conducted as part of a week-long training at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, which is only 25 km south of the inter-Korean border. The combined Freedom Shield exercise was intended to strengthen deterrence against the North’s nuclear and missile threats.
Approximately 300 individuals participated in the field training, which included the mobilization of the Army’s M1150 assault breacher vehicles from a joint South Korea-US engineering unit in addition to other assets like K1A2 tanks and K21 armored vehicles.
Joint Battle Teams were established by US and South Korean troops to improve their combined operating capabilities.
According to the Army, during the drills, South Korean and US engineers removed obstacles to make way for troops to secure the enemy’s position while K1A2 tanks and K21 armored vehicles fired at enemy positions.
Seoul and Washington claim the combined drills are defensive in nature, but North Korea has long denounced them as being invasion drills.
According to state media, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un joined a tank regiment in a training competition on Wednesday, driving a recently unveiled tank as a possible show of force against the allies’ maneuvers.
Beginning on March 4, the computer-simulated Freedom Shield exercise came to a close earlier in the day. Concurrent on-field exercises were conducted by the partners to increase readiness for any North Korean threats.
A three-day combined medical evacuation drill between the navies of the allies has been underway since Thursday, simulating widespread casualties during a conflict.
According to the South Korean Navy, the exercises involved the deployment of two American and a South Korean helicopters to transfer wounded soldiers from Deokjeok Island near Incheon, west of Seoul, to the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital in Daejeon, which is located 139 kilometers south of the nation’s capital.
Source:IANS
