South Korea and the United States will stage their annual joint springtime military exercise next month to strengthen their combined defense posture as they are preparing for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul, the allies' militaries said Wednesday. The Freedom Shield (FS) exercise is scheduled to take place from March 9-19, involving the field training exercise dubbed "Warrior Shield," according to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). The allies' militaries said the upcoming drills will help further strengthen the alliance's readiness and capabilities through combined, joint, all-domain operations. "This exercise will also serve as an opportunity to support ongoing preparations for a condition-based wartime operational transition, consistent with alliance agreement," they said in a joint statement. South Korea is seeking to achieve the "conditions-based" handover of wartime command from the U.S. within President Lee Jae Myung's five-year term that ends in 2030. As part of efforts for the "swift" transfer, the