Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup speaks during his visit to the Ground Component Command in Yongin, 49 kilometers south of Seoul, Aug. 26. Courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup visited an Army unit just south of Seoul on Friday to encourage Korean and U.S. troops engaging in a combined military exercise.

Lee met the troops at the Ground Component Command, a wartime unit formed to conduct the allies' Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise that kicked off Monday and is set to run through Sept. 1. It is located in Yongin, 49 kilometers south of Seoul.

The minister called on service members to focus on maximizing their wartime operational capabilities during the UFS and maintain a "firm" defense posture to respond "sternly and immediately" to any direct enemy provocations.

Concerns have persisted that Pyongyang could engage in provocative acts, given its hardening rhetoric against Seoul and Washington, and signs that it has completed key preparations for what would be its seventh nuclear test. (Yonhap)