US, South Korea begin military drills
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Following North Korea's missile tests, the US and South Korea kick off two-week-long military drills.
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These drills are expected to be scaled down version of the Max Thunder drills the two staged together in the past (CNN)
South Korea and the US began on Monday two-week-long air drills following North Korea's latest missile tests, which saw a number of ballistic missiles being launched.
South Korean media reported that the exercise is a show of force and "unity" between South Korea and its ally.
Yonhap news agency cited sources in South Korea as saying that Seoul's flight training will involve F-35A stealth fighters. The drills are expected to be a toned-down version of the Max Thunder drills, which North Korea had repeatedly criticized in the past.
South Korea's next president, Yoon Suk-yeol, is expected to be inaugurated tomorrow. He had vowed to bolster defense against North Korea after it test-fired two ballistic missiles last week.
Seoul announced last week that it became the first Asian member state of NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE).
The CCDCOE was created in 2008 in reaction to a significant cyberattack on Estonia's governmental networks in 2007, which the country's officials quickly blamed on Russia. Tallinn officials, on the other hand, later admitted that they lacked conclusive evidence to implicate the Kremlin.
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
