An AH-64 Apache helicopter takes off from the runway at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday morning, as the routine South Korea-US joint exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield is underway. The Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) CPX is a combined military exercise designed to defend the Korean Peninsula in the event of a contingency. President Donald Trump said Sunday (local time), ahead of the start of the Ulchi CPX, that he had ordered a significant reduction in joint South Korea-US military exercises, and the US Defense Department issued a statement saying it was working to carry out the directive. A scaling back of the exercise now appears inevitable.
jun@heraldcorp.com
