South Korea and the U.S. Review Joint Combined Firepower Demonstration Event for Next Year

On the 70th Anniversary of the Korea-US Alliance, Both Countries' Militaries Deploy Latest Weapons

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Military authorities are considering a large-scale ROK-US combined joint firepower demonstration event next year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the ROK-US alliance. The decision on whether to hold the combined joint firepower demonstration event and its scale has not yet been made.

Jeon Ha-gyu, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, stated at a regular briefing on the 22nd, "In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the ROK-US alliance next year, we are exploring various ways to showcase the prowess of our military and demonstrate the overwhelming deterrence power of the ROK-US alliance against North Korea, with the combined joint firepower demonstration being one of them."

The ROK-US combined joint firepower demonstration is a training exercise where the militaries of both countries deploy the latest weapons to showcase firepower and reaffirm their resolve to retaliate against enemy provocations. It began in June 1977 and has been held a total of nine times under names such as 'Integrated Firepower Annihilation Training.'

Spokesperson Jeon said, "The name of the combined joint firepower demonstration has been selected appropriately each time, and the scale and participants have varied with each event." The most recent demonstration was held in April 2017 at the Army Promotion Science Training Center in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province.

At that time, the ROK military deployed the latest weapons including Apache helicopters, K2 tanks, K21 armored vehicles, F-15K fighter jets, and Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), while the US Forces Korea contributed Bradley armored vehicles, Apache helicopters, and A-10 attack aircraft. Approximately 2,000 personnel from 48 combined units participated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.