North Korea warns as US, South Korea, Japan launch joint military drills
The exercises that have begun are routine (Photo: Getty Images)
On Monday, the US, South Korea, and Japan began their first joint multi-domain exercises since Donald Trump and Lee Jae Myung became presidents. However, North Korea views them as a military provocation, according to Bloomberg.
The five-day Freedom Edge drills are taking place in international waters near South Korea’s resort island of Jeju. The exercises involve naval, air, and cyber forces from all three countries.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that these exercises are routine and aimed at improving coordination among the three nations in countering North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
Meanwhile, North Korean media reported that the country’s military will respond to the allied exercises with a very clear and reinforced counteraction if the muscle-flexing continues. Pyongyang has long expressed outrage, viewing the joint drills as a rehearsal for war.
In a separate statement, Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said that the reckless show of force by the US, Japan, and South Korea toward North Korea will inevitably bring bad results for the allies.
Bloomberg noted that in June, South Korea, the US, and Japan conducted joint air exercises, followed by the US and Seoul holding their annual large-scale joint military drills in August.
A month earlier, North Korea criticized the US–South Korea joint exercises, claiming in Pyongyang that the drills revealed Washington’s intentions to occupy the Korean Peninsula and target hostile countries in the region.
