South Korea and US launch air drills with Korea-led wartime missions
South Korea and the United States began two weeks of Freedom Flag air exercises at Kunsan. Day and night planning teams will practise combined wartime missions, including operations led by South Korea. The training forms part of Seoul’s preparations to take wartime operational control from Washington, an authority it seeks to regain by 2030 or earlier.
Geopolitics··Midday
Two weeks of training at Kunsan
South Korea and the United States began their Freedom Flag combined air exercise on 26 October, according to South Korea’s Air Force. The training takes place at Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, a South Korean city about 180 kilometres southwest of the capital, Seoul. The exercise is scheduled to last two weeks. Its announced purpose is to improve the allies’ ability to conduct air operations together in wartime. Both countries are bringing aircraft and personnel to the base for the training. The opening announcement sets out the exercise’s objectives and participating forces; it does not announce the outcome of a completed assessment.[1], [2]
Day and night teams plan wartime missions
Personnel from the two countries will work in daytime and nighttime mission-planning cells, exchanging tactics and expertise. These teams will refine procedures for wartime operational planning and carrying out missions. The announced activities include defensive counter-air missions and air interdiction, which seeks to impede an opposing force’s movements or support. South Korea’s aircraft include F-15K, KF-16 and F-35A fighters, alongside a KC-330 aircraft and E-737 Peace Eye early warning and control aircraft. American participants include Air Force F-16 fighters and an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, a Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, and Marine Corps F-35B aircraft and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft.[1]
Korea-led operations enter the training programme
The drills will also assess the planning and execution of combined operations led by South Korea. The Air Force linked this part of the programme to preparations for transferring wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul. South Korea seeks to regain that authority by 2030 or earlier, through verification of its capacity to lead combined forces. Freedom Flag began in 2024 and is held twice a year. It replaced Korea Flying Training in the first half of the year and Vigilant Defense in the second half, bringing the allies’ earlier large-scale air exercises under the Freedom Flag programme.[1]
