[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Rising Northeast Asia Nuclear Threat... South Korea and US Begin Large-Scale Exercises

Following the ROK-US-Japan Joint Missile Defense Exercise
ROK-US Conduct 8th Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Tabletop Exercise (DSC TTX)
Large-Scale Outdoor Field Training Also Scheduled for Late This Month

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] South Korea and the United States are continuing large-scale joint exercises. This comes as North Korea resumed provocations this month with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launch, and recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to strengthen nuclear forces, heightening nuclear threats in Northeast Asia. Immediately after North Korea launched missiles, South Korea, the U.S., and Japan conducted the first North Korean missile defense exercise of the year, and the South Korea-U.S. delegation is scheduled to visit a U.S. nuclear submarine base for the first time to send a warning message regarding North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 23rd, South Korea and the U.S. conducted the 8th Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Tabletop Exercise (DSC TTX) on the 22nd (local time) at the U.S. Department of Defense building (the Pentagon) in Washington, D.C. The DSC TTX is a discussion-based exercise jointly hosted by the South Korean and U.S. defense ministries to develop response procedures in case of a North Korean nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. This DSC TTX assumed a North Korean nuclear attack scenario and devised countermeasures.

From the left in the photo: Japanese Atago-class destroyer, US Barry-class destroyer, Korean Sejong the Great-class destroyer

Following this, the South Korea-U.S. delegation is scheduled to visit the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered submarine base in Kings Bay, Georgia, on the 23rd. The Kings Bay naval base is the home port of submarines equipped with submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), one of the three pillars of the U.S. nuclear triad. South Korean and U.S. authorities are expected to link the outcomes of the DSC TTX discussions with the Kings Bay base visit to issue a warning message to North Korea.

Earlier, South Korea, the U.S., and Japan also conducted a missile defense exercise in the East Sea the previous day. This was the second exercise following one held in October last year. The exercise involved South Korea’s Aegis destroyer Sejong the Great (DDG, 7,600 tons), the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52, 6,900 tons), and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Atago-class Aegis destroyer Atago (DDG 177, 7,700 tons). The exercise discussions among the three countries began following North Korea’s ICBM launch on the 18th and were directly aimed at responding to North Korea’s provocations. The previous trilateral missile defense exercise in October last year was also conducted immediately after North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

Large-scale field training between South Korea and the U.S. is also being prepared. South Korean and U.S. troops will participate in the multinational combined exercise “Cobra Gold” held in Thailand from the 28th to the 10th of next month. During the exercise period, the South Korea-U.S. military authorities plan to expand the scale and scope of combined field training and intensively conduct division-level Ssangyong combined amphibious landing exercises and other combined field maneuvers at the level of the past “Foal Eagle” exercises. This effectively marks the revival of the Foal Eagle exercises, which were suspended during the Moon Jae-in administration, after about five years. A military official said, “North Korea’s ICBM requires verification of warhead reentry technology, but it is considered a weapon threatening the Korean Peninsula and the international community,” adding, “The response exercises by South Korea, the U.S., and Japan will be further strengthened.”

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