Operation Foal Eagle is carried out in the spirit of the 1953 South Korea-US Mutual Defense Treaty, which obligates the US to intervene if the north ever invaded again.
The bilateral exercise is conducted by South Korea and the US. It allows the two nations to practice land, air, naval, and sea operations.
The drill features the use of smoke screens during an amphibious invasion ...
... and beach-head assaults once the soldiers make landfall.
Korean Marines spearheaded the landing operations ...
On the beach, US forces join their South Korean counterparts.
The drill aims to foster interoperability between the two militaries, which would have to fight side-by-side in the event of a North Korean invasion.
North Korea accuses the US of using the exercises as a practice run for an invasion.
South Korea and the US maintain that Foal Eagle is a strictly defensive exercise.
The exercises allow American Marines to run through the full spectrum of amphibious operations.
The Korean War ended in an armistice meaning that North and South Korea technically still remain at war ...
... So any military exercise on either side of the border is viewed with extreme suspicion and even alarm.
Foal Eagle involves 12,500 US troops and approximately 200,000 South Korean military personnel.
Foal Eagle also gives US and South Korea the chance to train on a variety of platforms.
The two allies make use of helicopters ...
... And practice logistical work by airlifting critical supplies, such as artillery, to drop zones.
This year also marked the first time that a US littoral combat ship, the Navy's troubled one-time ship of the future, visited the Korean peninsula.
You've seen Foal Eagle ...
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