The Combined Joint Live-Fire Exercise, the first of its kind in six years, took place at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border, to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance and the 75th anniversary of the founding of South Korea's armed forces, Yonhab reported.
For Thursday's drills, the allies mobilized some 2,500 troops from 71 units and about 600 military assets.
South Korea deployed a wide range of ground and air assets, including K2 battle tanks, K21 armored vehicles, radar-evading F-35A fighters, E-737 Peace Eye early warning aircraft, AH-64E Apache and AH-1S Cobra attack helicopters.
Also at the exercise were surveillance and self-destructing drones, K9A1 and K55A1 self-propelled howitzers, and multiple launch rocket systems. The U.S. Forces Korea deployed M270A1 multiple launch rocket systems, M1135 nuclear, biological, chemical, reconnaissance vehicles and Apache helicopters.
Last Friday, North Korea’s state media - KCNA - called the drills “a typical North Korea-targeted war rehearsal,” stressing that Pyongyang cannot but take a more serious note of the fact that the drills would be held in an area a few kilometers from its frontier.
It also said that the US and South Korea would face unspecified “corresponding responses” over what it called their large-scale, provocative drills.
SKH/PR