US, South Korea announce largest field exercises in 5 years

The South Korean and U.S. militaries announced to hold of their most extensive joint field exercises in five years, as the U.S. flew a long-range B-1B bomber to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against North Korea.

• The two countries last conducted Foal Eagle in 2018.
• Recently, both countries have been expanding their joint military exercises in the face of an evolving North Korean nuclear threat.
• The United States flew a supersonic bomber over ally South Korea as part of an enormous combined aerial exercise involving hundreds of warplanes in a show of force meant to intimidate North Korea over its barrage of ballistic missile tests.
• The US has fired B-1B missiles to demonstrate its determination and ability to use the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its allies.

Details of the exercise:

• The South Korean and U.S. military will conduct the Freedom Shield exercise, a computer-simulated command post training, to strengthen their defence and response capabilities, and separate large-scale joint field training exercises called ‘Warrior Shield FTX.’
• It is going to be conducted from March 13 to 23, 2023.

Why is such an exercise being conducted?

• North Korea test-fired more than 70 missiles in the year 2022, the most ever in a single year, and several more this year.
• Many missiles were nuclear-capable weapons designed to strike the U.S. mainland and South Korea.
• The Hwasong-15 is one of North Korea's three existing ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), all of which use liquid propellants that require pre-launch injections and cannot remain fueled for extended periods.
• The North is pushing to build a solid-fueled ICBM, which would be more mobile and harder to detect before its launch.

India and Nuclear Power:

• India, one of the world’s nuclear weapon powers, should pay a lot more attention to the international nuclear discourse that is acquiring new dimensions and taking a fresh look at its own civilian and military nuclear programmes.
• Nuclear cooperation has brought a new dimension to India’s nuclear diplomacy in the 21st India’s status as a responsible nuclear power is predicated upon the civil relationships in the nuclear domain that it has established with major powers.

Significance to possess nuclear weapons:

• Possessing nuclear weapons can confer India increased leverage to conduct foreign policy in both regional and international contexts.
• There are two ways in which the possession of nuclear weapons can affect a state’s conduct of foreign policy and diplomacy.
• The first involves military and strategic signalling. This includes military-oriented functions of deterrence, coercion, and brinkmanship.
• The second deals with non-military affairs.