South Korea - August 19, 2024

South Korean civil groups on Monday held a protest rally against the Asian country's joint military exercise with the United States, which they said is a dangerous provocation that could push the Korean Peninsula closer to conflict.

The protesters from the civil groups Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK) gathered near the presidential office in central Seoul, where the defense ministry is also headquartered, to call for peace on the peninsula.

Holding banners and placards with slogans of "Stop the exercise that intensifies nuclear confrontation and encourages war crisis" and "Stop building the (South) Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance," the protesters shouted, "Against against against participating in the (South) Korea-U.S. military exercise."

The Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise, an annually-staged summertime military exercise featuring field maneuvers, a computer-simulated command post exercise and civil defense drills, kicked off earlier Monday and was scheduled to continue until Aug 29.

South Korea has claimed that the UFS exercise is defensive in nature, but the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has denounced the exercise as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.

During the 11-day exercise, the combined forces planned to expand field training and live-fire drills across multiple domains to strengthen interoperability and showcase their combined capabilities, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.

The JCS noted that the combined forces will further strengthen capability and posture to deter and defend against weapons of mass destruction.

Protesters in front of the presidential office said that these military exercises only serve to escalate tensions, making it more difficult to achieve peace through dialog.

Shotlist:
Seoul, South Korea - Aug 19, 2024:
1. Various of sculptures;
2. Various of South Korean civil groups Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK) protesting against joint military exercise;
3. Banner reading "stop war rehearsal";
4. Various of protest in progress;
5. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Cho Seung-hyun, protester, Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK) (starting with shot 4):
"In the face of the ROK and the U.S. pushing ahead with extended deterrence and the ROK-U.S.-Japan alliance strengthening, this year's drills will only accelerate the nuclear race on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia and the road to war.";
6. Various of protest in progress.

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