North Korea goes on the defensive against the United States and South Korea

1. Second drill between USA and South Korea
2. Attempts at de-escalation on the Korean peninsula

South Korea and the United States have announced the start of Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025, a series of large-scale annual military exercises in preparation for defence, from 18 to 28 August. This year, the military exercise programme will focus on adjusting its operational structure and nuclear threat scenarios.

Second drill between USA and South Korea

This is the second drill conducted between the United States and South Korea, and usually involves thousands of soldiers from both countries. According to military spokesman Colonel Lee Sung Joon at a joint press conference with the US Forces Korea, 18,000 South Korean soldiers will attend, while it is unknown how many of the 28,500 US troops in Seoul will participate.

Both Lee Sung Joon and the director of public affairs for the US Forces in South Korea, Ryan Donald, have stated that the scale of the 40 drills will be the same as those carried out in previous years.

They will test the army's response to threats using the latest technology and taking into account current conflicts. They will integrate cyber defence and hybrid warfare strategies and there will be response scenarios to missile attacks from Pyongyang.

They also announced that half of the exercises will be postponed until September due to weather conditions. According to Escenario Mundial, analysts agree that this is also an attempt to calm tensions with North Korea, as it coincides with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's attempts at de-escalation.

In response, Kim Jong-un's regime has warned that it will not hesitate to use defensive countermeasures if they cross the border, as, according to Defence Minister No Kwang-chol, this constitutes a ‘direct military provocation’.

‘Protecting the security interests of the state from hostile threats from the US and South Korea is the absolute mission of our armed forces. Any crossing by their adversaries will be responded to with the strict exercise of the sovereign right to self-defence,’ warned No Kwang-chol.

The sister of the North Korean dictator, Kim Yo-jong, has criticised Ulchi Freedom Shield 2025, calling it ‘invasion rehearsals’. The United States and South Korea have assured that these manoeuvres are purely defensive in nature and that they have no intention of attacking.

Ryan Donald stated, ‘Our focus remains clear: to maintain peace and security on the Korean peninsula.’

Attempts at de-escalation on the Korean peninsula

The tensions between the two Koreas since the Korean War (1950-1953) were gradually easing last week.

Since coming to power, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung suspended border propaganda broadcasts and halted the distribution of leaflets criticising the regime in Pyongyang in response to the cessation of balloons filled with rubbish coming from the north.

The South Korean Armed Forces had stated that ‘the decision to turn off the loudspeakers is intended to lay the groundwork for restoring inter-Korean trust and the promised peace on the Korean peninsula.’

In response, according to the Yonhap news agency, the dictatorial regime has begun to remove the loudspeakers it has installed along the border.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it would monitor whether all of them would actually be removed.

Now, the de-escalation process has been stalled by Pyongyang's defensive stance in the face of military manoeuvres by Seoul and Washington scheduled to begin next week.