SEOUL – The Republic of Korea and the United States will begin annual summertime military drills next week, officials said on Monday.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, set to run from Aug 19 to 29, will reflect "realistic threats" across all domains, including missile threats but also GPS jamming, cyberattacks and other lessons learned from recent incidents, the two countries' militaries said in a statement.

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The alliance "will further strengthen its capability and posture to deter and defend against weapons of mass destruction," Colonel Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a briefing.

Lee said the ROK military would also support the simultaneous government-led Ulchi civil defense drills. About 19,000 ROK troops, similar to last year, will take part in 48 rounds of combined field training, including field maneuver, live fire and amphibious exercises, he said.

Colonel Ryan Donald, spokesperson of US Forces Korea, said the annual exercises were among the largest exercises in the Indo-Pacific region, and will be joined by member states of the United Nations Command.

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The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has long denounced the allies for stoking tensions with military drills. Seoul and Washington say the exercises are defensive.