The U.S. and South Korea began Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercises on Monday, marking the first large-scale field training exercises since 2018.

“Only exercises that mimic real life can firmly protect South Korea’s national security and the people’s lives,” President Yoon Suk-yeol said at a meeting with top officials on Monday, kicking off the nine-day exercises.

Yoon stressed that warfare in the contemporary world is significantly different from that of the past. Enemies will resort to nonconventional attacks on and offline, including civilian infrastructure such as ports, airports and nuclear power plants, he said, emphasizing that exercises should evolve along