South Korea: Joint annual war games in April

Event

South Korea and the United States will launch their joint annual war games on April 1, with the Foal Eagle field training exercise set to begin that date and extend for about a month. The Key Resolve command post exercise is set for later in the month, starting April 23 and lasting approximately two weeks. The scale and duration of the military drills, which North Korea (DPRK) usually denounces as a rehearsal for northward invasion, are expected to be of smaller scale than in the past amid the rare, recent detente on the Korean Peninsula.

Context

In 2017, South Korea mobilized around 300,000 troops for the Foal Eagle exercise, which were joined by several thousand American soldiers. Seoul and Pyongyang recently agreed to hold a third inter-Korean summit in late April in the truce village of Panmunjom.

Advice

Individuals in South Korea are advised to keep abreast of the regional geopolitical situation.