South Korean Peace Activists Urge End to Seoul-Washington Military Drills
(MENAFN) South Korean peace activists have called on Seoul and Washington to immediately cease their joint military exercises, warning that these drills only intensify military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
On Monday, combined South Korean and U.S. forces commenced the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, scheduled to continue through August 28, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). This 11-day annual event features a mix of field maneuvers, computer-simulated command post exercises, and civil defense drills.
While South Korea maintains the UFS is defensive, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) condemns it as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.
The civic organization Korea Peace Action issued a statement condemning the exercise as one of the most provocative actions against the DPRK, emphasizing that it only served to escalate military and political tensions on the peninsula. The group called on Seoul and Washington to stop the drills and foster dialogue with the DPRK, arguing that hostile South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises are incompatible with efforts to restore inter-Korean relations.
In a speech delivered on Friday commemorating the 80th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945), South Korean President Lee Jae-myung reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to steadily easing tensions and rebuilding trust with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Since taking office in early June, President Lee has underscored the imperative for Seoul and Pyongyang to restore dialogue and mutual confidence through concrete measures rather than mere verbal assurances.
The Lee government has taken steps to ease tensions by halting the launch of balloons carrying anti-DPRK leaflets across the border and suspending loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the inter-Korean boundary.
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