Public Affairs Director of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff Col. Jang Do-young (L) and Public Affairs Director of the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea (USFK) Col. Ryan Donald (R) attend a press briefing for the Ulchi Freedom Shield 2026 exercise at the Defence Ministry in Seoul on August 10, 2026. (Photo by SONG Kyung-Seok / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Public Affairs Director of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff Col. Jang Do-young (L) and Public Affairs Director of the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea (USFK) Col. Ryan Donald (R) attend a press briefing for the Ulchi Freedom Shield 2026 exercise at the Defence Ministry in Seoul on August 10, 2026. (Photo by SONG Kyung-Seok / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Addie Davis
11:20 AM – Monday, August 10, 2026

The United States and South Korea have announced that the two will be conducting their annual joint military exercise, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, to support "wartime readiness and national defense."

The exercise will run from August 17th to August 27th and aims "to strengthen the Alliance's combined defense posture," according to U.S. Forces Korea spokesperson Colonel Ryan Donald.

"By incorporating realistic threats, including lessons learned from recent conflicts, it will serve as an opportunity to further strengthen the Alliance's readiness and capabilities through combined, joint, all-domain operations," he said during a press conference alongside South Korean military spokesperson Colonel Jang Do-young.

Media reports also attributed statements to Donald about North Korea's troop dispatches and their impact on the exercise.

"DPRK soldiers have deployed and fought in Ukraine and they've taken those lessons they learned there and brought them back to North Korea," he reportedly said, using the abbreviation for North Korea's full name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"That changes the DPRK capability and our training accounts for that," he added.

 

The exercise comes on the backdrop of heightened tensions with North Korea. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that a ballistic missile had recently been detected near a North Korean coastal city.

"Our military detected a short-range ballistic missile launched from the vicinity of North Korea's Wonsan toward the East Sea around 17:00 today (August 6)," the joint chiefs said, according to a Korean-language post from the spokesperson of the country's Ministry of National Defense.

"Our military is strengthening surveillance and vigilance in preparation for additional launches, while South Korea, the United States, and Japan are closely sharing information related to the 'North Korean ballistic missile' and maintaining full readiness," the post continued.

 

U.S. Forces Korea acknowledged the launch, though it added that no immediate danger was posed to the U.S. or its allies.

"We are aware of the missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners. Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies," it said. "The United States remains committed to the defense of the U.S. homeland and our allies in the region."

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