This file photo, taken Oct. 27, 2021, shows the South Korean Marine Corps participating in the Hoguk defense exercise in Incheon. Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

The Hoguk defense exercise began its two-week run, Monday, amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, sparked by recent North Korean military provocations, according to the South Korean military.

"Starting today, we will conduct the Hoguk exercise until Oct. 28. The annual outdoor maneuvers are aimed at enhancing military readiness and boosting joint operations capabilities," Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesman Col. Kim Jun-rak said during a press briefing at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul.

All three branches of the nation's armed forces ― the Army, Navy and Air Force ― as well as the Marine Corps will take part in the exercise, according to the military. Some U.S. troops will also participate to enhance interoperability between the allies.

In particular, this year's edition will be carried in both day and night scenarios, while assuming North Korea's various threats, including nuclear weapons and missiles, a decision made based on the current situation on the peninsula.

The Kim Jong-un regime has fired eight ballistic missiles over the last three weeks, while its military fired some 200 artillery shells into a buffer zone along the inter-Korean border, Friday, in violation of an inter-Korean military agreement signed on the sidelines of the South-North Korea summit in September 2018. The agreement calls for halting all hostile acts against each other to reduce tensions along the inter-Korean border.

In response to North Korea's consecutive provocations, there are growing calls among conservative politicians to nullify the pact ― although the presidential office remains cautious about the issue.

Given that Pyongyang's missile launches and artillery barrages were, it claimed, tit-for-tat moves against recent South Korean and U.S. military drills, additional provocative actions are high likely, according to experts.

The General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) said that its launch of a short-range ballistic missile last week was a countermeasure against the South Korean military's artillery fire near the forward defense area of the KPA Fifth Corps.

Ellen Kim, deputy director and senior fellow of the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Andy Lim, an associate fellow with the Korea Chair at CSIS, said North Korea's provocations could resume after the congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to be handed a historic third term in control of China during the congress that will end, Oct. 22.

"After the party congress, there are two upcoming events that can be more windows of opportunities for provocations," they said.

"The first is the annual South Korean Hoguk military exercise, which is set to begin on Monday and last until Oct. 28. The latter half of this exercise falls in the post-party congress period. The second is the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 8, and North Korea has showed in the past a proclivity to cause trouble around U.S. election time."

In response, the JCS said, Monday, the military is maintaining a firm readiness posture, closely monitoring the North Korean military's moves.