South Korean, US and Japanese warships launched their first trilateral anti-submarine drills in five years yesterday, after North Korea renewed missile tests in an apparent response to bilateral training by South Korean and US forces.
Pyongyang’s most recent five missiles launches, the first such tests in a month, also came before and after US Vice President Kamala Harris visited South Korea on Thursday and reaffirmed the “ironclad” US commitment to the security of its Asian allies.
The one-day three-nation training off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast is meant to cope with a North Korean push to advance its ability to fire missiles from submarines, the South Korean navy said in a statement.
Photo: AFP / South Korean Defence Ministry
North Korea has in the past few years been building bigger submarines, including a nuclear-powered one, and testing sophisticated missiles that can be fired from them.
South Korean officials last week said they had detected signs that North Korea was preparing to test-fire a missile from a submarine.
The joint drills involve the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, and US, South Korean and Japanese destroyers, the navy statement said.
During the training, the ships were to search and track a US nuclear-powered submarine posing as a North Korean submarine, media reports said.
“We will respond and neutralize any forms of North Korean provocations in an overwhelming and decisive manner,” South Korean navy Captain Cho Chung-ho, commander of his country’s troops who took part in the training, was quoted as saying in the statement.
The training came as South Korea and Japan are looking to mend ties frayed over history and trade disputes.
The two countries together host a total of 80,000 US troops.
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