The US, South Korea and Japan yesterday commenced an air and naval exercise off a South Korean island in their latest joint drill condemned by North Korea as a “reckless show of strength.”
The exercise called Freedom Edge is aimed at strengthening the countries’ combined operational capabilities in the sea, air and cyberspace, and is necessary to counter North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense said.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the exercise would include US Marine and Air Force aerial assets, and feature enhanced ballistic missile and air-defense drills, medical evacuations and maritime operations training, making it “the most advanced demonstration of trilateral defense cooperation to date.”
Photo: EPA
The exercise off South Korea’s southern Jeju Island runs until Friday.
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier condemned the drills in state media, saying that they show the countries’ confrontational stance toward North Korea.
“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,” Kim Yo-jong said, using the initials of North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
She also criticized the US and South Korea over their latest Iron Mace tabletop exercise, which aims to explore ways to integrate Washington’s nuclear and South Korea’s conventional capabilities to bolster deterrence against North Korean threats.
The US and South Korean militaries did not confirm details of the exercise that was reported to be coinciding with Freedom Edge.
North Korea in the past has carried out its own military demonstrations or weapons tests in response to joint military exercises by its rivals.
Kim Jong-un’s government has repeatedly dismissed calls by Seoul and Washington to restart negotiations aimed at winding down his weapons programs, as he continues to prioritize Russia as part of a foreign policy aimed at expanding ties with nations confronting the US.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kim has sent thousands of troops and large shipments of weapons, including artillery and ballistic missiles, to help fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
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