Sharjah 24 – KUNA: South Korea and the US plan to kick off a combined springtime military exercise later this month, the allies announced Friday, as they are striving to beef up deterrence against North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Freedom Shield exercise is scheduled to take place from March 13-23 without a break, marking the longest-ever edition of their joint computer-simulation command post exercise, according to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the US Forces Korea.

"Freedom Shield is designed to strengthen defence and response capabilities of the alliance by focusing within the exercise scenario on things such as the changing security environment, DPRK aggression and lessons learned from recent wars and conflicts," US Forces Korea spokesperson Col. Isaac Taylor was quoted as saying at a joint press briefing in Seoul.

Participants in the drill will also include personnel from the UN Command and subordinate component commands under the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command, as well as representatives of the UN sending states, according to the US Forces Korea.