South Korea and the United States will begin a major combined military exercise next week to strengthen their joint defense readiness in the face of evolving North Korean military threats, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday. The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise based on an all-out war scenario is set to take place from Aug. 19-29, featuring the main computer simulation-based command post exercise, concurrent field training and civil defense drills. During the exercise period, the government-led Ulchi civil defense drill will involve a North Korean nuclear use scenario, but the allies' joint exercise will not incorporate such a scenario, according to the JCS. The move comes amid growing concerns over Pyongyang's efforts to advance its weapons programs, highlighted by its launches of 37 ballistic missiles this year alone. The allies said this year's exercise will reflect threats across all domains, including those posed by North Korean missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattacks, as well as l essons learned from recent armed conflicts. "In particular, the ROK-U.S. alliance will further strengthen its capability and posture to deter and defend against weapons of mass destruction," they said in a release. ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, the South's official name. The exercise will be similar in scale to the previous year, involving some 19,000 South Korean troops, Col. Lee Sung-jun, JCS spokesperson, said in a joint briefing. It will also include 48 field training events, such as amphibious landing and live-fire drills. The North has long denounced the allies' joint exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion against it and has a track record of staging weapons tests in response. South Korea and the United States have rejected the accusation, describing their drills as defensive in nature. "We are maintaining a firm readiness posture to punish immediately, strongly and until the end in case of a provocation," Lee said. He also confirmed only the Ulchi civil defense drill, set to run from Aug . 19-22, will incorporate a scenario of a North Korean nuclear attack. The government earlier said it plans to strengthen its North Korean nuclear response drill staged for the first time last year during the exercise period. Late last month, USFK Commander Gen. Paul LaCamera said the allies would not incorporate such a scenario in the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, despite expectations it would feature the nuclear crisis dimension for the first time. The allies have been pushing to enhance their joint readiness against the North's nuclear threats, conducting their first-ever tabletop exercise on integrating South Korean conventional forces with U.S. nuclear capabilities earlier this month. Aside from South Korean and U.S. troops, personnel from several member countries of the U.N. Command (UNC) will join the exercise. The UNC is an enforcer of the armistice that halted the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. Source: Yonhap News Agency