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South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will hold joint military exercises from Sept. 7 to 11 in international waters east and south of South Korea’s Jeju Island, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.
The North Korea-focused Freedom Edge exercise will go ahead after Washington recently scaled back separate annual drills with Seoul as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks renewed dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“This exercise is a defensive drill conducted annually by the three countries to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and safeguard peace and stability in the region,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The multi-domain exercise is expected to include maritime missile defense, air and air-defense drills, anti-submarine warfare and cyber defense, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Freedom Edge was first held in June 2024 following an agreement reached by the leaders of the three countries at the 2023 Camp David summit.
“This premier multi-domain exercise will continue to reinforce our shared values, enhance our shared interoperability and further strengthen our defense partnerships to ensure peace and stability throughout the Pacific,” U.S. Pacific Command spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Chloe Morgan said, according to Yonhap.
The move follows Trump's decision earlier this month to slash the annual 11-day U.S.-South Korea military drills to five days.
Trump called the drills “very insulting” to Kim and said the North Korean leader had been “very well behaved,” as Washington seeks to revive dialogue with Pyongyang.
South Korea also said Monday that the U.S. had canceled the biennial Ssangyong joint exercise because of force-availability constraints linked to the war with Iran.
Despite Trump’s outreach, North Korea has shown little sign of reciprocating. Pyongyang has continued firing missiles and has condemned the scaled-down exercises, U.S. arms sales to South Korea and plans to fund programs documenting human rights abuses in North Korea.
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