How Korea’s 2026 Amphibious Training Enhances Military Readiness: A Detailed Review

Translation result. The Republic of Korea Navy and Marine Corps announced on April 27 that they are conducting the first-half 2026 joint amphibious exercise in the Pohang area of North Gyeongsang Province from April 23–30.

On April 27, forces executed the exercise’s centerpiece — the “decisive action” — off the Dukseok-ri coastline. The decisive action is the key phase of an amphibious operation: Marines seize a coastal foothold with naval gunfire and air support, then prepare to transition to sustained ground operations.

For the first time in the exercise’s history, a New Zealand Army platoon was attached to a landing battalion and carried out sea-to-shore assaults and follow-on ground operations alongside ROK forces.

New Zealand soldiers trained with South Korean units for roughly two weeks before the decisive action, conducting urban operations, live-fire exercises, and embarkation/disembarkation drills with the Korean Amphibious Assault Vehicle (KAAV) to build tactical cohesion.

Colonel Kim Hyun-gil, commander of the landing forces, said, “Joint amphibious training is an important opportunity to strengthen Navy–Marine Corps teamwork and the interoperability of our supporting units.”

The exercise is being conducted at brigade scale, with about 3,200 personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps participating.

Some 20 ships, including the large transport Marado (LPH), KAAVs, amphibious assault helicopters (MUH-1), maritime patrol aircraft (P-8A), Air Force KF-16 fighters, AH-64E attack helicopters, and a variety of manned and unmanned systems — including drones operated by the Drone Operations Command — are taking part.

A team from the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet’s Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures unit (ExMCM) joined mine-countermeasure operations to improve combined mine warfare capabilities.

During landing reconnaissance-team missions, special forces covertly infiltrated the objective coastline to conduct reconnaissance and clear obstacles. For the first time, operators used FPV (First Person View) drones to collect real-time intelligence and validate drone employment in a contested landing scenario.