South Korea and the United States will hold their combined Freedom Shield military exercise next month to check their joint defense posture and strengthen their response capability. 

The annual drill will run from March 9 to March 19 after a Crisis Management Exercise, which is a de facto rehearsal of the Freedom Shield exercise set to take place from March 3 to 6. 

During the combined drill period, the allies will conduct computer simulation-based command post exercises based on scenarios where war breaks out after a North Korean invasion.

The allies have decided to hold the Freedom Shield exercise this year as in previous years despite North Korea’s criticism of the drill and calls from some in the government, including the unification minister, to scale back the joint exercises to create an atmosphere of reconciliation between the two Koreas. 

The defense ministry is said to have concluded that holding the joint exercises is inevitable to fulfill President Lee Jae Myung’s campaign pledge to complete South Korea’s takeover of wartime operations command from the U.S. before the end of his term.