The navies of Japan, South Korea and the United States held a rare joint missile defense exercise Sunday in the Sea of Japan, as North Korea’s continued weapons tests push trilateral security ties closer than ever.
South Korea’s Navy said in a statement that Sunday's exercise, which was conducted in international waters and involved Aegis destroyers from the three countries, focused on practicing detecting and tracking a computer-simulated ballistic missile target and sharing related information.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force said in a separate statement that the drills — the fourth of their kind since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office — were “intended to vigorously promote trilateral cooperation to address regional security challenges amid the increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan.”
The MSDF specifically highlighted North Korea’s launch last week of an intercontinental ballistic missile-class weapon. Pyongyang on Wednesday tested its solid-fueled Hwasong-18 ICBM, which is believed to be capable of striking most, if not all, of the continental U.S., with the weapon spending 74 minutes in flight — a record for the country.
"This exercise served as an opportunity to enhance our military's response capabilities against ballistic missiles and improve security cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan," the Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified South Korean Navy official as saying.
Last month, the U.S. and its two allies agreed to work toward launching a mechanism to share real-time warning data on North Korean missile launches “before the end of the year.”
Media reports have said that Japan and South Korea are planning to independently link their radars via a U.S. system, providing Tokyo with real-time data in a move that would improve its detection capabilities as the North continues to fire off missiles at an unprecedented clip and avoid the thorny issue of two nonallied countries — Japan and South Korea — sharing delicate information instantly.
The measure — the latest in a series of trilateral moves in response to the growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea — comes amid a thaw in once-chilly ties between Tokyo and Seoul.
The nuclear-armed North has fired off around 100 missiles since the beginning of last year — a tally that Pyongyang could add to this month when it marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice on July 27.
The regime of leader Kim Jong Un has been known to stage shows of force on or around key anniversaries, and preparations have already begun for a large-scale military parade to mark the armistice, a national holiday in the North.
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