SEOUL, General Kim Seung-kyum, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), conducted inspections at a mechanized unit on Friday. The visit took place at the 7th Maneuver Corps' headquarters in Icheon, 56 kilometers southeast of Seoul, coinciding with the commencement of the annual Hoguk military exercise on Monday.
Yonhap News Agency reports that during his inspection, Kim called on troops to maintain the highest level of operational readiness via realistic training, according to the JCS. He proceeded to visit the Army Aviation Command in the same city and instructed forces to strengthen their capabilities against unmanned enemy assets.
The JCS stated that the inspections aimed to underscore the necessity of maintaining readiness to "overwhelmingly and decisively punish any enemy provocation and aggression."
North Korea has historically shown displeasure towards the Hoguk exercise, labeling it as provocative. Last year's drills provoked North Korea to fire artillery shots into maritime buffer zones established under the 2018 inter-Korean military accord, as well as launching ballistic missiles into the East Sea.