sajjad hatzadeh, an expert on future east asian issues , about the us-south korea military exercise and the firing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles by north korea. what is the purpose of holding this exercise and why was it held at this point in time? the report of your colleagues has also been rightly pointed out. it is important in several ways . the first point is whether it will be held in the current time frame and at the height of the competition between china and the united states or korea. south korea points out that since 2017, the largest military exercise will be held. in order to analyze why this exercise is being held , you can see that at the national level, south korea has become closer to the united states every year since the second decade of this century , a country that at the beginning of the 2012 was closer , but later due to the events that happened to america it got closer, and despite china's opposition, it is hosting new american missiles. on the other hand , the united states of america has specifically mentioned japan and south korea in its strategy