SEOUL, May 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's defense ministry said Monday that the Ulchi Taegeuk exercise was launched among civilians, government officials and armed service members to better address various potential contingencies such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
Choi Hyun-soo, defense ministry spokesperson, told a press briefing that the Ulchi Taegeuk drill, which is defensive in nature, would continue from Monday to Thursday.
The inaugural civilian-military exercise would involve about 480,000 civilians, government officials and soldiers from some 4,000 administrative and public institutions, security-relevant civilian companies, and the military.
Choi said the South Korean military has faithfully conducted the military agreement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which was signed by defense chiefs of the two Koreas during the third summit last September in Pyongyang between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
Under the military agreement, the two Koreas agreed to stop all hostile acts near border areas by setting up buffer zones on the ground, in the air and the waters.
The Ulchi Taegeuk exercise replaced the summertime South Korea-U.S. joint war game, codenamed Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), to support the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
It combines the South Korean military's Taegeuk command post exercise and the government's Ulchi exercise, which was part of the UFG in the past.
The new civilian-military exercise was aimed to enhance the country's capability to tackle safety and security threats such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks as well as security crisis.
Earlier this year, the combined forces of South Korea and the United States replaced the joint springtime war games, codenamed Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, with the Dong Maeng command post exercise in March.
The DPRK has denounced the South Korea-U.S. military drills as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.
