South Korea, the United States, and Japan will conduct trilateral multi-domain Freedom Edge exercises this month. This comes amid efforts to deepen security cooperation due to military threats from North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), according to UNN.
Details
The five-day exercises will take place in international waters east and south of South Korea's southern island of Jeju from September 15 to 19.
The three countries will enhance their multi-domain operational capabilities in areas such as sea, air, and cyberspace, and improve their interoperability to maintain strong and stable trilateral cooperation.
The upcoming maneuvers will be the third round of trilateral exercises, following two rounds conducted in June and November last year, respectively.
These are the first such exercises to be held since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump took office.
North Korea has protested against the joint exercises of the three countries, as it did against previous Freedom Edge exercises involving US nuclear aircraft carriers.
After the first exercises in June last year, the DPRK criticized these exercises as an attempt to strengthen a US-led military bloc. The JCS emphasized that the upcoming exercises are part of their regular training.
These exercises are annual exercises aimed at responding to nuclear and missile threats from North Korea and protecting regional peace and stability, in compliance with international law and norms.
The exercise was named after key bilateral exercises that the US conducts with its Asian neighbors - Freedom Shield with South Korea and Keen Edge with Japan.
Addition
North Korea accused the United States of threatening regional peace by deploying strategic bombers over the Korean Peninsula as part of trilateral exercises. The exercises involved aircraft from the US, Japan, and South Korea, demonstrating their ability to respond to security challenges.