Faisal Abbas 
South Korean forces in joint training with their American counterpart, March 13, 2025 (Getty)
South Korea land forces said today, Friday, that South Korean and American soldiers have conducted joint training on special strikes this week, are part of the major military exercises currently underway. About 250 soldiers from the War Command of the Land Forces and the Second Martial Brigade of American Aviation participated in the four -day training, which began on Monday at the Guangjo Special War College, 27 km southeast of Seoul, according to South Korean Yonhap News Agency.
The exercises, which mobilized 16 South Korean and American helicopters, including the “Shinok” and “Black Hawk” helicopters, focused on training soldiers on reconnaissance and strikes, according to the ground forces. The exercises took place in the framework of the annual “Freedom Shield” maneuvers that started last Monday, and Pyongyang has always condemned these joint exercises as training in the invasion of North Korea, while Seoul and Washington confirmed that the training is of a defensive nature. Just hours after the launch of the maneuvers, Pyongyang launched several unlimited ballistic missiles off the western coast of North Korea.
On March 10, South Korea announced that Pyongyang launched several unlimited ballistic missiles off the western coast of North Korea. The South Korean army stated that the launch operations were monitored today, but had not provided any additional details about it. The launch operations came just hours after the South Korean forces and the American forces began their joint annual maneuvers, which North Korea considers training in a possible invasion.
On the same day, Pyongyang condemned the exercises and described it as a “provocation”, warning of the danger of the outbreak of a “single cross shot” war, days after the South Korean Air Force bombed a village on the south. “This is a dangerous provocative work that would lead to an escalation of the situation in the Korean peninsula, and it may lead to a conflict between the two sides through one cross,” the official media quoted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Pyongyang as saying.
(Associated Press, New Arab)
