US, ROK begin ‘largest-ever’ air drills despite national mourning period

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US, ROK begin ‘largest-ever’ air drills despite national mourning period

Drills against North Korean threats go ahead after Seoul said it was reviewing postponement over Itaewon tragedy

Jeongmin Kim | Shreyas Reddy October 31, 2022

US, ROK begin ‘largest-ever’ air drills despite national mourning period

U.S. and ROK F-35A Lighting II aircraft soar in a tight formation over South Korea on July 12, 2022 | Image: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Trevor Gordnier / U.S. Air Force

The U.S. and South Korean air forces kicked off their largest-ever joint drills on Monday despite speculation that they may be postponed or suspended after a deadly crowd surge in Seoul and the announcement of a nationwide mourning period.

A military official confirmed to NK News that the Vigilant Storm exercise went ahead as scheduled and will continue until Friday.

About the Authors

Jeongmin Kim

Jeongmin Kim is the Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at KOREA PRO, based in Seoul. Kim covers inter-Korean relations and North and South Korean foreign and military affairs. Kim has covered the 2022 ROK presidential election on the ground, and prior to joining NK News, she worked for the CSIS Korea Chair in Washington D.C. and Reuters news agency’s Seoul bureau.

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Shreyas Reddy

Shreyas Reddy is a correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. He previously worked as a researcher at BBC Monitoring, where his work focused on news and key people and organizations from the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Follow him on Twitter.

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