South Korea-U.S. Combined Exercise "Freedom Shield" Ends Today... OPCON Transfer Verification

by Yang Nakgyu

Published 19 Mar.2026 06:57(KST)

Updated 19 Mar.2026 07:10(KST)

About 18,000 Personnel Participate in This Year’s FS Exercise,
Similar to Last Year

The annual South Korea-U.S. Combined Command Post Exercise (CPX), "Freedom Shield" (also known as Freedom Shield·FS), which is conducted for the defense of the Korean Peninsula in the event of a contingency, concludes on March 19, 2026.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, this year’s FS exercise, which began on March 9, incorporated realistic threats into its scenarios, such as lessons learned from recent warfare trends. In addition, as South Korea and the United States have been accelerating the transition of wartime operational control, the exercise included evaluation and verification of whether the conditions for the transfer have been met. This year, approximately 18,000 personnel participated in the FS exercise, a number similar to last year.

At the AmTiger demonstration brigade joint training held on the 13th at the Mugeon-ri training ground in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, U.S. soldiers are conducting combat training after disembarking from armored vehicles. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

However, the number of field training exercises (FTX), which involve the actual movement of military units and are linked to the FS command post exercise, was reduced to a total of 22 sessions—less than half of last year’s 51 sessions during the March FS exercise. This reduction appears to reflect the government’s position that the exercises should be adjusted in order to create favorable conditions for resuming dialogue between North Korea and the United States.

Nevertheless, North Korea, which has consistently reacted sensitively to the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, issued a statement in the name of Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, just one day after the exercises began. The statement warned, "Hostile forces staging military shows of force near the sovereign security domain of our state could result in unimaginably horrific consequences."

On March 11, North Korea also conducted a test launch of a strategic cruise missile from the new 5,000-ton destroyer "Choe Hyonho," with a range estimated at 2,000 to 2,500 kilometers, which was seen as a response to the FS exercise. Furthermore, on March 14, North Korea simultaneously launched more than 10 rounds of the "600mm ultra-precision multiple launch rocket system," classified as short-range ballistic missiles, into the East Sea in another display of force.