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Seoul, Washington still negotiating Freedom Shield combined exercises with less than two weeks to go

Published: 23 Feb. 2026, 19:36 Updated: 23 Feb. 2026, 19:44

A helicopter maneuvers at Camp Humphreys, a United States Forces Korea base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi on Aug. 12, 2025. [NEWS1]

South Korea and the United States are negotiating over how much of the two allies' joint Freedom Shield (FS) exercises should take place, as Seoul asks to scale back while Washington refuses to comply with a short-notice request.

Seoul proposed shifting this year’s FS toward command post exercises based on computer simulations rather than field training exercises, according to multiple government sources on Monday.

Under the usual schedule, the allies hold a crisis management exercise (CMX) one week before the main exercise, with this year’s CMX set to begin on March 3. The CMX is a computer-based command drill in which military leaders simulate how they would respond to an escalating security crisis.

Earlier this month, the South Korean government confirmed plans to scale back field training exercises during the joint exercise period. The military initially planned about five brigade-level or larger field drills, roughly one-third of the 16 held last year. Officials also discussed focusing on smaller unit maneuvers and dropping large-scale field drills altogether.

The Ministry of National Defense, however, stressed that even if it reduces the number of drills during FS, it will maintain the overall annual scale of exercises and instead “distribute them throughout the year.”

Military authorities reportedly conveyed the revised approach to United States Forces Korea in mid-February. Seoul appears to have proposed placing greater emphasis on command post exercises, which rely on computer simulations and focus on decision-making and coordination among military leaders rather than live troop movements, as they form the core of the combined exercise.

Korean and U.S. Marines conduct follow-on security operations during a landing exercise in a photo shared on Aug. 6, 2025. [YONHAP]

U.S. officials responded that changing planned field training drills just one to two weeks before the crisis management drill would be difficult, citing budget and deployment issues for personnel and equipment that had already been mobilized.

The allies have yet to resolve their differences and have considered delaying the announcement of the FS exercise schedule details until early March.

“The two sides are working to proceed with only those field training exercises considered necessary,” a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. A Joint Chiefs of Staff official also commented at a regular briefing on Monday that “the two sides are consulting on the timing, scale and format of the field training.”

Observers note that consultations continuing just days before the CMX suggest significant differences remain between the allies.

Some officials link Seoul’s push to minimize large-scale maneuver drills to efforts to revive the inter-Korean military agreement signed on Sept. 19, 2018, a pact aimed at reducing military tensions along the border. The fact that North Korea is hinting at softening tones to the South is also being pointed out as a possible influence.

An MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned reconnaissance and attack aircraft sits on the tarmac at Camp Humphreys, a United States Forces Korea base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Aug. 12, 2025. [NEWS1]

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued statements earlier this month regarding an alleged civilian drone incursion into the North. She said she “highly appreciates” Unification Minister Chung Dong-young’s expression of regret over the incident.

The drone incident refers to an event that North Korea alleged took place on Jan. 4, claiming that South Korea sent unmanned aerial vehicles into the North’s airspace.

Separately, some officials inside the government argue that Seoul should suspend maneuver drills during FS to build momentum for possible U.S.-North Korea and inter-Korean summits in April, around the expected timing of a U.S.-China summit.

When South Korea and the United States carry out large field drills, North Korea often reacts by moving its troops closer to the border. Some officials argue that scaling back drills that Pyongyang considers sensitive could send a softer message. Others warn that doing so could create tension with Washington.

The Moon Jae-in administration previously scaled down or delayed field drills during combined exercises, limiting them to smaller units and citing concerns about the spread of Covid-19.

Helicopters sit on the tarmac at Camp Humphreys, a United States Forces Korea base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi on Aug. 12, 2025. [NEWS1]

Some military officials also warn that scaling back exercises could conflict with the Lee Jae Myung administration’s goal of securing a target year for the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea. The transfer refers to shifting command authority over South Korean forces during a war from the U.S.-led Combined Forces Command to the South Korean military.

The Defense Ministry aims to set a target year for the transfer at the Security Consultative Meeting between Seoul and Washington later this year and is reportedly weighing 2028 as a possible timeline, taking into account U.S. President Donald Trump’s term that ends in January 2029 and the 75th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

To meet that goal, the allies must show through joint drills in both halves of the year that the future Combined Forces Command can operate on its own.

“Freedom Shield is a command post exercise and is separate from field training drills,” a Defense Ministry official said. “We will carry out the FS exercise as planned and focus on verifying the full operational capability of the future Combined Forces Command.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE YU-JUNG [[email protected]]