In solidarity with the people of Korea, over 100 US organizations and political parties demand the Trump administration cancel the upcoming Freedom Shield military exercises in Korea and cease all future war threats against the Korean people.
We, the undersigned organizations, call on the Trump administration to cancel the Freedom Shield 26 war games and all future military exercises in Korea. We further express our solidarity with the mass organizations, trade unions, civil society groups, and political parties of the Republic of Korea (ROK) who are organizing to oppose Freedom Shield.
Every year in March, US Forces Korea and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea (ROK) host a massive series of destructive and provocative military exercises known as Freedom Shield. This year, Freedom Shield 26 is scheduled to take place from March 9-19.
Last year, preparations for Freedom Shield resulted in the bombing of Pocheon, a border city in the ROK. The US and ROK militaries dropped eight 500-lbs. MK-82 bombs on homes and churches in Pocheon. Hundreds of homes were fully or partially destroyed, dozens of people were injured, and critical infrastructure was damaged. A total of 5,372 residents had their homes, health, or livelihoods affected by the bombing. Most are still waiting for meaningful action by the ROK government to address their needs for housing and healthcare.
While the US claims its war games in Korea help defend the ROK, incidents like the Pocheon bombing show that these military exercises are simply war against the Korean people by another name. These war games also routinely rehearse the invasion, occupation, and use of nuclear weapons against the DPRK under the guise of defensive military exercises. Freedom Shield and other US war games advance Washington’s geopolitical interests at the expense of the people of Korea and the regional stability of Northeast Asia.
While the Trump administration has declared its intent to establish peace in Korea, it has taken few meaningful steps to achieve this. In 2024, USFK conducted 275 days of war games in Korea, and 274 days of war games in 2025. The administration’s aggressive actions clearly contradict its rhetoric, and damage any prospects for peace in Korea. Cancelling U.S. military exercises was critical to facilitating dialogue with Pyongyang in Trump’s first term, and cancelling Freedom Shield now would be a sensible step that would help make talks possible in the future.
Military spending on the part of the US and its allies has grown explosively over the past year. As the Trump administration calls for a $1.5 trillion budget for the Department of War, it is also pressuring other nations to expand their military spending. This military spending spree will not feed the hungry, give relief to the poor, or heal our ecologically ravaged planet. It will only invest precious time and resources towards more misery and destruction. Opposing this rising tide of militarism is not simply a question of morality, but of survival.
On February 28, thousands of people representing hundreds of organizations across the ROK marched in protest of the upcoming Freedom Shield war exercises. Cancelling the war games is a common sense step to reduce tensions in Korea that has the backing of South Korean civil society and international peace organizations. We join this international call for peace by condemning Freedom Shield and calling for its cancellation.
18 Million Rising
AAPRP
All Power Books
Anakbayan Manhattan
Anakbayan USA
ANSWER Coalition
Anti War Action Network
Asians 4 Palestine-Twin Cities
BAYAN USA
BAYAN Northern California
BAYAN Washington
bil-Yad
Black Men Build – New York
Brooklyn Against War
Channing and Popai Liem Education Foundation
Citizens Academy for Korean American in DC
Citizens Academy of Korean American
CODEPINK
Community Liberation Programs
Darfur Diaspora Collective
Davenport Aid Brigade
December 12th Movement
Denver Anti-War Action
Denver Aurora Community Action Committee
Diaspora Pa’lante Collective
Dissenters
DSA International Committee
Eclipse Rising
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Friends of Swazi Freedom
GABRIELA Oakland
GABRIELA Seattle
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Green Bay Anti-War Committee
Guerrilla History
Haebang Collective
Healthcare Workers for Palestine Bay Area
ILPS-US
International Action Center
International League of Peoples’ Struggle – NorCal
Jews Against White Supremacy
Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network
Korea Peace Committee Philadelphia
Korea Policy Institute
KOREAN AMERICAN LABOR STRUGGLE SOLIDARITY ASOCIATION
Korean American Support Association for Prisoners of Conscience
Korean Diaspora for Liberation (KDL)
Koreans 4 Decolonization, UC Berkeley
Koreans for Woori School
Malaya Movement San Francisco
National Students for a Democratic Society
New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR)
New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP)
Nidal Seattle
Nikkei Decolonization Tour
Nikkei Vancouver for Justice
Nikkei Vancouver for Justice
No Tech for Apartheid
NZ DPRK Society
OakCHRP (Oakland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines)
Palestinian Feminist Collective
Palestinian Youth Movement
Palestinian Youth Movement, Bay Area
Party for Socialism and Liberation
PSL Bay Area
Pax Christi USA
Peace Action New York State
Peace Action WI
Peace Catalyst International
People’s Revolutionary Party (PRP)
Presbyterian Peace Network for Korea
Qiao Collective
Resist US-Led War Movement
Resist U.S.-Led War SFSU
SALAM
San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Seattle Against War
Seattle Against War
Seattle Evergreen Coalition
Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Solidarity Television
SolidarityINFOService
Somali Human Rights Association (SOHRA)
Sông2Sea
South Asians Resisting Imperialism
Sovereignty Support Movement
Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return, University of Washington (SUPER UW)
Sudanese Resistance Front (SuRF)
The League of Filipino Students SFSU
The People’s Forum
Tucson Anti-War Committee
UC Ethnic Studies Council
UC People’s Tribunal for Palestine
United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
Veterans For Peace
Washington D.C., Action Committe for Sovereignty and Peaceful Resolution of Korea
Women Cross DMZ
Workers World Party
World Beyond War
Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG)
Wyoming 4 Palestine