Korea, Japan, U.S. to begin trilateral anti-submarine drills

Seoul: Naval forces of Japan, South Korea and the United States will conduct joint military drills— the first such exercise in nearly five years— Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) announced on Thursday. 

The drills are scheduled to kick off on Friday in the international waters of the East Sea.

MSDF said the exercises, including anti-submarine drills, will be held in the Sea of Japan, which South Korea calls the East Sea.

As per an official statement, the trilateral exercise will be aimed at promoting interoperability, tactical and technical coordination as well as efficient communications among the three countries. 

“Exercises such as this forge a trilateral relationship between Japan, Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States that is forward-leaning, reflective of our shared values, and resolute against those who challenge regional stability,” the U.S. 7th Fleet statement read.

“Trilateral operations also concretely demonstrate our shared, unwavering commitment to upholding regional security and stability through information sharing and further trilateral cooperation,” the statement continued.

Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense said in a separate statement that the exercise will be defensive in nature, and be a part of the ministry’s measures to “restore” trilateral military cooperation “to the level before 2017” in order to respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats. 

It’s the first time since April 2017 that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are holding a combined maritime exercise.

In the meantime, security cooperation among the three countries enhanced to counter North Korea as tension grew in the region after Pyongyang adopted a new law to use pre-emptive nuclear strikes to protect itself.