SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea and the United States will begin their annual joint military exercises next week, focusing on enhancing their combined capabilities to deter and defend against the growing nuclear threat from North Korea, the allies said Monday.

The exercises could trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which portrays them as invasion rehearsals and uses the allies’ military cooperation as a pretext to advance the development of nuclear weapons and missile systems.

South Korean and U.S. military officials said this year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, scheduled to run from Aug. 19 to 29, will include computer-based exercises to improve defenses against threats such as missiles, GPS jammers and cyber attacks, as well as parallel field exercises and shooting drills.

The Allies in particular want to “further strengthen their ability and posture to deter and defend against weapons of mass destruction,” military representatives said at a joint press conference.

Lee Sung Joon, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said about 19,000 South Korean troops would take part in the drills. He described the drills as “an essential element in maintaining a strong defensive posture to protect the Republic of Korea,” using South Korea’s official term.

Ryan Donald, spokesman for U.S. Forces Korea, declined to comment on the number of U.S. troops participating in the drills and said he could not immediately confirm whether the exercises would involve U.S. strategic assets. The United States has increased its regional deployment of long-range bombers, submarines and aircraft carrier battle groups in recent months to train with South Korean and Japanese assets in a show of power against the North.

“This exercise will reflect realistic threats across all domains, such as the missile threat from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and we will take into account lessons learned from recent armed conflicts,” Donald said, referring to the North’s official name.

“South Korean and U.S. units will conduct joint field exercises across all domains. Field maneuvers and firing exercises will strengthen the alliance’s interoperability while demonstrating our joint capabilities and resolve,” he said.

In addition to the military exercises with the United States, the South Korean military will support the country’s civil defense and evacuation drills from Aug. 19 to 22, which will include programs based on North Korean nuclear attack scenarios, Lee said.

Hostility is high on the Korean peninsula as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to use Russia’s war against Ukraine as an opportunity to advance his weapons development while verbally threatening Washington and Seoul with nuclear war.

In response, South Korea, the United States and Japan are expanding their joint military exercises and tightening their nuclear deterrence strategies that build on U.S. strategic assets.

During the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises last year, North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests that it described as simulating a “scorched earth” nuclear strike on South Korean targets.

In recent weeks, the North has also launched thousands of balloons filled with garbage toward the South as part of a bizarre psychological warfare campaign, further worsening relations between the war-torn rivals.

South Korea’s military said on Monday that the North launched around 240 balloons over the weekend, but only ten of them landed in the South, all in areas north of the capital Seoul. The balloons were carrying paper waste and plastic bottles, but no dangerous substances were found, the South’s chiefs of staff said.

It was the first time North Korea had released balloons southward since July 24, when garbage carried by at least one balloon fell on the South Korean presidential palace, raising fears that key South Korean facilities were at risk. The balloon did not contain any dangerous material and no one was injured.

Also on Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol nominated presidential security chief Kim Yong-hyun, one of his closest confidants, as defense minister. Kim will replace Shin Won-sik, who was named Yoon’s new national security adviser, the presidential office said.

As a candidate for a Cabinet post, Kim must undergo parliamentary hearings, although Yoon can appoint him even if lawmakers object. Yoon, a conservative, has struggled to get his program through the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Liberals have often criticized Yoon’s national security policies as belligerent and called for stronger efforts to revive dialogue with the North.

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