US – South korea hold drills (File photo)
The United States, South Korea, and Japan on Monday began a joint air and naval exercise off South Korea’s Jeju Island, in what they called their most advanced trilateral military drill to date. The exercise, named Freedom Edge, will run through Friday and is aimed at boosting cooperation across air, sea and cyber domains in response to North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats, South Korea’s defence ministry said, reported news agency AP.According to the US Indo-Pacific command, Freedom Edge includes ballistic missile defence, air-defence drills, medical evacuations, and maritime operations training. It will also involve aerial assets from the US marine corps and Air Force. The command described it as “the most advanced demonstration of trilateral defense cooperation to date.”The drills have drawn a strong response from North Korea, which has historically condemned joint military exercises by its regional rivals. In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said:“The reckless show of strength made by them in real action in the vicinity of the DPRK, which is the wrong place, will inevitably bring bad results to themselves,” as quoted by the agency. She also criticised the Iron Mace tabletop exercise held recently by the US and South Korea, which reportedly focuses on integrating US nuclear capabilities with South Korean conventional forces to deter North Korean threats. The two militaries have not officially confirmed details of that drill, which was reported to coincide with Freedom Edge.North Korea has previously responded to such exercises with missile launches or other military demonstrations. Talks between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington aimed at curbing the North’s weapons programme remain stalled.Kim Jong Un has instead moved closer to Russia and China, both of which have increased defence and diplomatic engagement with North Korea in recent months. Since the start of the Ukraine war, Kim has sent large quantities of artillery shells and ballistic missiles to Russia, according to Western intelligence claims.He also visited China earlier this month and appeared alongside President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a large-scale military parade.
