Yonhap reported, citing military officials, that South Korean and U.S. forces held Iron Mace tabletop drills in Seoul from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 to coordinate conventional capabilities and nuclear deterrence against North Korea.
The session convened at the headquarters of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. Military officials were understood to have considered ways to reinforce U.S. extended deterrence and how South Korean conventional forces might support U.S. strategic operations during a contingency.
The exercise’s planning basis came from guidance by the Nuclear Consultative Group. That guidance followed an April 2023 summit between then-South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and then-U.S. President Joe Biden.
The Iron Mace series began in August 2024. The Korea Herald described the sessions as having been held behind closed doors during President Lee Jae Myung’s administration, apparently to avoid provoking North Korea.
The Seoul exercise took place despite South Korea and the United States reducing the scale of their combined Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise in August. A separate Freedom Edge exercise involving South Korea, Japan and the United States went ahead as scheduled in September.
