The United States and East Asian allies Japan and South Korea on Saturday concluded their first trilateral "multi-domain exercise" in a collective show of force in the face of continuing nuclear and missile threats posed by North Korea.
The drills called Freedom Edge were held from June 27-29 in the East China Sea, part of which borders the western coastline of the Korean Peninsula, although the allies typically train off the South Korean island of Jeju.
Pyongyang has repeatedly described similar exercises as rehearsals for an invasion. It responded to the maneuvers by vowing to defend its sovereignty, security and interests through "offensive and overwhelming" countermeasures.
North Korea's embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The three-day joint exercise focused on ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare and defensive cyber training, among other measures, according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Ships and aircraft from the three countries participated in the drills, including the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group. Both Japan and South Korea sent Aegis-equipped destroyers.
The longtime U.S. security treaty allies boast some of the best equipped armed forces in the world. The trilateral exercise aimed to show the close cooperation between the U.S., Japan and South Korea, especially in relation to the North Korean threat.
The leaders of the three countries announced at the Camp David summit in August 2023 that they would hold "annual, named, multi-domain trilateral exercises" to enhance coordination.
In a statement on Sunday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry denounced all three countries for their "reckless and provocative" exercise and warned of "fatal consequences," without elaborating.
The statement described Freedom Edge as a product of a tripartite military bloc, the "strategic design" of the U.S. to exert pressure on the Far East of Russia and lay siege to China.
The U.S. military said the drills demonstrated the will of the U.S., Japan, and South Korea to promote trilateral interoperability and protect freedom, peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
All three countries have expressed concerns about tensions between Beijing and Taipei, and about maritime disputes between China and neighboring countries in the South China Sea.
Freedom Edge was the first major U.S.-led exercise conducted around the Korean Peninsula since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on June 19.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said the agreement calls for providing military assistance to each other without delay if one of them faces an armed invasion. Observers expect North Korea and Russia to carry out joint military exercises in the future.
Part of the North Korean response may have arrived early on Monday, when the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected at least one ballistic missile fired by Kim's regime, its second missile launch in five days.
About the writer
Ryan Chan is a Newsweek reporter based in Hong Kong, where he previously had over a decade of experience at ... Read more
