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President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea observes the Combined Joint Live-Fire Exercise at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, on June 15. (Yonhap)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol emphasized the importance of “peace through force” while supervising the 2023 Combined Joint Live-Fire Exercise on Thursday at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province.

As a show of protest, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea.

On Thursday afternoon, Yoon observed live-fire exercises performed by around 2,500 South Korean and US troops from 71 units and involved around 610 advanced military assets, including the F-35A and F-16 fighters and Gray Eagle drones. They were the first such drills held at the national level in six years since 2017.

With the alliance marking its 70th anniversary, South Korea and the US have held a total of five live-fire exercises since May 25. The one on Thursday was the largest yet.

After observing the exercises, Yoon stressed, “True peace is not a false peace that relies on the goodwill of the enemy — it is about upholding national security through our strength.”

“The only way to ensure the Republic of Korea’s freedom, peace, and prosperity is through a strong military that can fight and win against the enemy, one that the enemy dares not underestimate,” he added.

The exercises Thursday included two components: a response to North Korean nuclear and missile threats and repulsion of an attack, as well as a counterattack operation.

The first part consisted of joint aerial firepower and counterfire exercises and the use of reconnaissance drones to assess the battlefield situation, followed by the repulsion of a North Korean strike around a guard post. The second part involved ground attack unit maneuvers and fire, the annihilation of enemy bases and strongholds, and the securing of target regions by multidimensional high-speed maneuvering units.

The Seungjin Fire Training Field is located only around 25 kilometers from the Military Demarcation Line.

That evening, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that it had “detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired by North Korea toward the East Sea from the area of Sunan (near Pyongyang) between 1925 and 1937 hours.”

“The North Korean ballistic missiles each traveled for 780 kilometers before making impact in the East Sea,” it continued.

These were the first missiles launched by the North in 63 days since a test-fire of the new Hwasong-18 solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on April 13.

Early Friday morning, the South Korean, US, and Japanese national security advisors issued a joint statement condemning the North Korean launches.

“These launches are clear violations of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, and demonstrate the threat the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs pose to the region, international peace and security, and the global non-proliferation regime,” it said.

“This action demonstrates the need for all countries to fully implement DPRK-related UN Security Council resolutions,” it added.

The advisors also “affirmed that Japan-ROK-US cooperation would not be shaken by provocations and shared their belief that the DPRK should take the path of diplomacy rather than continued provocations.”

Shortly before the launches, North Korea issued a “strong warning” published by the Korean Central News Agency and credited to a Ministry of National Defence spokesperson.

In response to the South Korea-US live fire exercises, it declared, “Our army strongly denounces the provocative and irresponsible moves of the puppet military authorities escalating the military tension in the region despite its repeated warnings, and warns them solemnly.”

“Our armed forces will fully counter any form of demonstrative moves and provocation of the enemies,” it asserted.

With Friday also marking the 24th anniversary of the First Battle of Yeonpyeong Island, Yoon posted a Facebook message that morning stressing, “We will respond resolutely and without a moment’s hesitation to North Korea’s reckless provocations.”

“Only overwhelming force on our part will bring true peace, rather than false peace where we are begging before our enemy,” he said.

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter; Um Ji-won, staff reporter

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