The U.S. and South Korea concluded their annual springtime Freedom Shield drills on Thursday, capping 11 days of large-scale joint exercises that drew North Korea’s scorn and multiple weapons tests.

In a joint release, the allies said the exercise “incorporated lessons learned from recent conflicts into training scenarios to enhance realism,” adding it focused largely on “maintaining a high level of combined readiness.” 

The two sides added that this year’s training supported “ongoing preparations” for the conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON), a goalthat South Korean President Lee Jae Myung aims to achieve before the end of his