ROK Marine Corps Participates in '2025 KAMANDAG Exercise' with US, Japan, and Others in the Philippines

Multinational Joint Exercise with US and Philippine Marine Corps

The Republic of Korea Marine Corps announced on June 9 that it participated in the '2025 KAMANDAG Exercise' held from May 26 to June 6 in various locations including Luzon and Palawan Islands in the Philippines.

The KAMANDAG Exercise, which means 'Cooperation of Sea Warriors,' is a multinational joint exercise that has been conducted since 2017 by the United States and Philippine Marine Corps to strengthen counter-terrorism capabilities, coastal defense, and combat skills through cooperation among allied nations. The Republic of Korea Marine Corps has participated in this exercise annually at the company level since 2022, following an invitation from the United States and Philippine Marine Corps in 2021.

This year, four countries participated in the exercise: Korea, the United States, the Philippines, and Japan. In addition, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Indonesia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Thailand, and the United Kingdom attended as observers. The Republic of Korea Marine Corps organized its training units based on their assigned missions (rifle company and reconnaissance team) and took part in the exercise. The rifle company conducted chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) training and urban warfare exercises with the main participating countries, and carried out humanitarian civil support training in designated areas assumed to be disaster-affected regions.

Additionally, the reconnaissance team exchanged combat skills and tactics focused on jungle and maritime reconnaissance, and developed confidence to accomplish missions in any environment through comprehensive training that included jungle survival, airborne insertion, and amphibious infiltration exercises.

Furthermore, throughout the exercise, the Republic of Korea Marine Corps formed a combined command post with the United States and Philippine Marine Corps and conducted staff training to enhance combined operational capabilities. The Korean Marines also supported training to improve the Philippine Marine Corps' operation and maintenance skills for amphibious assault vehicles. The Philippines has been operating eight Korean-made Amphibious Assault Vehicles (KAAVs), imported in 2016 at a value of 46 million dollars, and since 2022, the Republic of Korea Marine Corps has annually invited Philippine Marine Corps trainees to its training unit to provide education aimed at enhancing KAAV operation and maintenance capabilities.

Major Bong Sunyong, head of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps training unit, stated, "With pride in representing the Republic of Korea, we accomplished various training tasks with foreign militaries, and all participating personnel felt a great sense of fulfillment." He added, "We will continue to do our utmost to ensure that the Marine Corps can accomplish its missions in any environment, at home or abroad."

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