Seoul’s military says it will maintain its two major annual exercises with Washington while continuing joint training throughout the year, following a call by the top U.S. commander in South Korea for more consistent training. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the allies are “flexibly conducting and developing a balanced year-round training system while firmly maintaining their regular combined exercises in both halves of the year.” Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), said at an American Chamber of Commerce in Korea event on Wednesday that he had met JCS Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung to discuss the upcoming Freedom Shield exercise. “We can’t hinge our readiness on two exercises a year,” Brunson said. “It’s got to be training throughout the entirety of the year where we continue to shape ourselves to meet the objective set forward for us by our national command authorities.” The allies hold Freedom Shield in March and Ulchi Freedom Shield in August, both large-scale exercises centered on command-post operations. They also conduct smaller combined