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President Park Geun-hye presides over a Cabinet Meeting at the Blue House on Aug. 22

The Ulchi-Freedom Guardian joint exercises conducted by South Korean and US forces began on Aug. 22.

Ending on Sep. 2, the exercises reportedly apply Operations Plan (OPLAN) 5015 to a wartime countermeasures scenario that involves launching a preemptive strike on a North Korean nuclear or missile base during a crisis.

“The UN Command’s Military Armistice Commission informed the North Korean military at Panmunjeom of the schedule of this year’s Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises and of the fact that the exercises are not intended to be a provocation,” the ROK-US Joint Command said on Aug. 22.

On the morning of Aug. 22, the officer on duty at the UN Command verbally informed the North Korean military about the facts in question at the military demarcation line at Panmunjeom.

The exercises will consist of simulations held at command posts, involving 25,000 US service members, including 2,500 reinforcements from overseas. More than 50,000 South Korean troops will be taking part as well, which is similar to previous years.

To coincide with the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises, the South Korean air force has been conducting the Soaring Eagle large-scale comprehensive combat exercises, which last from Aug. 19 to Aug. 26. These exercises include an operation to preemptively take out North Korean missile threats.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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