The South Korean and US military officially launched the “Eulji Freedom Shield” joint military exercise on the 17th. South Korean civil society groups demonstrated and protested in Seoul on the same day, calling for the cessation of joint military exercises between South Korea and the US. The South Korean civil society group “Pioneers of Peaceful Unification” held a protest rally on the same day in front of the US Embassy in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. The group said that the South Korean government should immediately and completely take back command of wartime operations and abolish the so-called “extended deterrence” arrangement provided by the US to South Korea.

The South Korean and US military officially launched the “Eulji Freedom Shield” joint military exercise on the 17th. South Korean civil society groups demonstrated and protested in Seoul on the same day, calling for the cessation of joint military exercises between South Korea and the US. The South Korean civil society group “Pioneers of Peaceful Unification” held a protest rally on the same day in front of the US Embassy in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. The group said that the South Korean government should immediately and completely take back command of wartime operations and abolish the so-called “extended deterrence” arrangement provided by the US to South Korea.