Seoul — The largest joint military exercise in years by US and South Korean forces on the Korean peninsula has been completed, a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry in Seoul said on Thursday.

The 11-day exercise under the name of Ulchi Freedom Shield went as planned, the spokesperson said.

There had been concerns in South Korea that North Korea might conduct ballistic missile tests during the exercise. The communist government in Pyongyang has repeatedly accused the US of planning an attack on the country.

The US has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.

Pyongyang has already tested a number of missiles this year, including at least one intercontinental missile. This was one reason why the Presidents of South Korea and the US, Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden, had agreed to stage the exercises.

In the past years, the two allies had cancelled or reduced the scale of joint military exercises for diplomatic reasons. The last exercise of the scale of Ulchi Freedom Shield took place in 2017.

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