The US military has conducted live-fire drills in South Korea to test deployment readiness to the Korean Peninsula.
The drills conducted by the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division based in Texas, took place at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, north of Seoul and less than 30 km (19 miles) from the heavily fortified border with North Korea, the military said.
The aims were to master their proficiency in rapid responses from the United States, the military added.
This temporary deployment comes in addition to the roughly 28,500 American troops that are stationed in South Korea as part of efforts to deter nuclear-armed North Korea.
South Korea began shouldering the costs of US deployments, used to fund local labor, the construction of military installations and other logistics support, in the early 1990s.
The live-fire drills on Wednesday come as South Korea and the USFU are set to conduct their annual summertime war games next week to ramp up their capability in the face of North Korea’s weapons.
North Korea has slammed South’s war games as “provocation” and warned of serious consequences.
(Source: Reuters)
