By Chen Hanghui and Chen Fangzhou

On March 14, the US and the ROK concluded their Freedom Shield 2024 (FS24), an 11-day large-scale military exercise. As an annual routine military exercise, the FS24 witnessed roughly equivalent participating forces and duration to the last year, but involved more parties, more diversified subjects and an apparent combat orientation. Amidst the escalated tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the US and ROK's deterrence toward the DRPK through this exercise will undoubtedly aggravate the hostility between the ROK and the DRPK and compromise the peace and stability on the peninsula.

Three changes:

The FS24 exercise combined computer simulation and field maneuver operations, with the participation of more than 300,000 South Korean troops and American 10,000 troops, roughly the same as last year. However, this year's exercise presented three noticeable changes.

The field exercise subjects have expanded significantly. 48 practical field training items had been scheduled for the drill, double the number of last year, including nuclear and biochemical protection, cruise missile detection and interception, joint air strike training and joint tactical live-fire training.

Multi-domain collaboration was more pronounced. The ROK-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) confirmed that the multi-domain combat concept was highlighted in the exercise to improve the coordination between the allied forces, with the deployment of cyber and space warfare forces in addition to land, sea and air combat troops.

The participating countries have grown in number. The FS23 exercise was only taken part in by the ROK, the US and the UK. Comparatively, with the setup of the so-called United Nations Command by the US and the ROK, this year's exercise had mobilized more than 10 countries to participate, including the UK, Canada, Australia and France.

Multiple objectives:

Although considered an annual routine exercise, the FS24 was held on the backdrop of escalating tensions on the peninsula, was structured based on the Operations Plan (OPLAN) 5015 between the US and ROK in content, and emphasized the multi-domain collaborative operation concept, revealing multiple political and military objectives concealed behind the exercise.

On the one hand, the exercise was designed to deter DPRK. Since 2020, the DPRK's medium- and long-range precision strike capabilities have noticeably increased, thus weakening the strategic deterrence of the US-ROK coalition to a certain extent. The drill prioritized responding to incoming cruise and ballistic missiles from the DPRK, to demonstrate the US and the ROK’s capabilities in suppressing the DPRK's nuclear missile attacks from the source. In addition, despite being political posturing, the exercise invited 10 US allies to participate in a bid to show the strong alliance system behind the US-ROK coalition to the DPRK.

On the other hand, the excise aimed to improve the operation and command procedures and mechanisms of the US-ROK allied forces. The computer simulation part mainly involved the ROK Ministry of National Defense, the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff, the ROK Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters, the ROK-US Combined Forces Command and other commanding headquarters. The exercise was designed to inspect and improve the command and control procedures, contents and methods on the joint operations of the US-ROK allied forces in case of crises and conflicts, helping both sides complete the establishment of an upgraded extended deterrence cooperation mechanism in the first half of this year, and put the mechanism into use in the second half of the year.

Exacerbating antagonism on the peninsula

Deterring adversaries through military exercises is an old trick of the US, reflecting its strategic thinking marked by excessive reliance on military power. Since the beginning of this year, the US and the ROK have successively carried out several combat exercises to maintain a deterrence posture against the DPRK. However, the past games between US-ROK and the DPRK have shown that provocative military exercises targeting a specific party are inconducive to enhancing mutual trust or easing confrontation, but only aggravate contradictions and intensify tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Military exercise is an adversarial logic that amplifies the potential for accidental conflicts between the two sides and compromises peace and stability on the peninsula. Historically, US-ROK joint exercises always saw a period of heightened military confrontation on the peninsula. Especially in the current context of accumulated animosity and successive display of power between the DPRK and the ROK, the US and the ROK's persistent high-profile publicity of the exercise and intentional setup of the so-called United Nations Command manifested an overt sense of provocation and will inevitably meet with a strong response from the DPRK.

The Freedom Shield is incapable of securing genuine freedom for the ROK. The real purpose of the US is to roil up the situation on the peninsula and instigate confrontation between the DPRK and the ROK through military exercises, thereby compelling the ROK to readily embrace the strategic trajectory of the US in the service of its hegemony. The ROK should maintain sober and avoid becoming a pawn of others.