Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Defense minister visits Camp Humphreys

On August 8, Monday, Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup visited Camp Humphreys for the first time after taking office. Lee asked them to make thorough preparations for the ‘Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS)’ exercise, to be held in the second half of the year, highlighting the need for a firm combined defense posture between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States (US).

Significantly, Lee asked them to concentrate their capabilities so that this joint exercise can serve as momentum to develop a theater-level joint military exercise system by mastering the crisis management and combined operation support procedure on a pan-government level, as this joint military exercise is now incorporated into the government exercise, which has been separately carried out since 2019.

Minister Lee and Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command LaCamera shared the view that the joint field training exercise is very important for strengthening the integration of the ROK-US tactical echelon, and agreed to cooperate closely so that the exercise can achieve results.