US, South Korea hold live-fire drills near tense border with North Korea

Explosions reverberated throughout the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, located less than 20 miles south of the DMZ, as U.S. Apache attack helicopters, M-777 howitzers and Korean K-1 tanks fired at targets on a distant mountainside. The drills were part of a three-week exercise involving roughly 2,000 allied troops and 150 pieces of military hardware that began on Feb. 4.

The exercise is meant to "strengthen the ability to conduct small-unit joint operations between the South Korean and U.S. militaries," South Korea's Defense Ministry said in a press statement.

It is also designed to help U.S. military rotational Stryker brigade, which was deployed from Washington State in October 2024, acclimate to the harsh winter weather and mountainous terrain of the Korean Peninsula.

Temperatures were in the single digits as the drills began Monday morning.

"We're all trained and very knowledgeable about the cold weather," Spc. Cedric Mack told reporters. "How to layer up, what we need for cold nights and warm days -- we pretty much know what to do depending on the weather."

U.S. and South Korean troops are also working on streamlining communications while launching combined attacks involving ground forces, aircraft and armored vehicles, U.S. Capt. Zachary Douglas said.

"We've been sharing our knowledge back and forth," Douglas, a brigade training officer, told reporters. "We learn from them just as much as they learn from us. It helps us work together to be better prepared for anything that were to happen."

The show of force comes amid a steady stream of nuclear threats and weapons tests from North Korea. Tensions have been high on the Peninsula since the beginning of the year, with Pyongyang firing what it claims is a new hypersonic missile as well as a salvo of short-range missiles ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration last month.

On Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un restated the country's "unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces" and blamed the United States for causing a "military imbalance and new conflicting structure" in the region.

"They are raising a grave challenge to the security environment of our state," Kim said during an address to the North's Ministry of National Defense, according to state-run media.

Pyongyang regularly condemns the allies' joint exercises as rehearsals for an invasion. The official Korean Central News Agency issued a commentary on Sunday criticizing the latest drills, calling them "military provocations being committed in a frantic way."

"Hostile and risky actions will only lead to undesired results," the KCNA article said.

Despite the North's belligerent stance, speculation has swirled that Trump may look to revive nuclear negotiations with Kim Jong Un. During his first term, Trump held two high-profile summits with the North Korean leader and met him briefly a third time at the DMZ.

The diplomatic outreach failed to result in a nuclear deal, however, and Pyongyang has accelerated the development of its weapons programs in the intervening years.

On his return to the White House, Trump touted his relationship with Kim and surprised allies by acknowledging Pyongyang's nuclear status. The administration has since returned to calling for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal, however. After a summit meeting Friday, Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru issued a joint statement reaffirming their "resolute commitment" to North Korea's complete denuclearization.