Anchor: The joint South Korea-U.S. Freedom Shield military drills, which kicked off on March 4, came to a close on Thursday. The two sides focused on defense against nuclear threats from North Korea and devising new military operation plans to be implemented during the next Freedom Shield exercise in August.
Emma Sparkes has more.

Report: South Korea and the United States wrapped up their Freedom Shield military exercise on Thursday.

According to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) and the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, the allies utilized land, sea, air, cyber and space assets in the drills, which focused on a diverse range of security risks.

On operations to neutralize North Korea's nuclear threat, the allies focused on implementing operational concepts being developed by the two sides to effectively deter and prevent the regime’s use of nuclear weapons.

Visiting the Combined Forces Command's military bunker complex, Command Post-Theater Air Naval Ground Operations (CP-TANGO), the day before the exercises came to a close, defense minister Shin Won-sik stressed the need for the allies to strengthen operational capabilities to overwhelm the enemy in all areas.

The expanded exercise this year comprised 48 outdoor drills — more than double the 23 held between March and April in 2023 — and included participation from Australia, Canada, France, the U.K. along with eight other member states of the United Nations Command(UNC). The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission(NNSC) observed them.

North Korea, which has strongly criticized the joint drills, said on Thursday that the regime's leader Kim Jong-un guided a military demonstration involving tanks the previous day. Last week, Kim guided artillery firing drills for two straight days in apparent protest of the combined exercises. 

Pyongyang also attempted to disrupt GPS signals in South Korea for five consecutive days from March 5, a day after the Freedom Shield exercise kicked off. However, the communist state was somewhat quiet this year compared to the past with a lack of ballistic missile launches during the training period.
Emma Sparkes, KBS World Radio News