S.Korea, US, Japan hold 1st trilateral ‘Freedom Edge’ exercise

SEOUL — South Korea, the US and Japan began their first trilateral multi-domain exercise on Thursday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, amid efforts to deepen security cooperation against threats from North Korea, recently emboldened by its deepening ties with Russia.

The three-day exercise, named Freedom Edge, got underway in international waters south of South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju, the JCS said, after the three countries’ defence chiefs agreed to launch the drills early this month in line with their leaders’ agreement last year, Yonhap news agency reported.

Last August, President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to hold “annual, named, multidomain” trilateral exercises regularly during their summit at Camp David as part of efforts to deter evolving nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

The drills mobilised various warships and aircraft from the three sides, including the US Navy’s USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, South Korea’s Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong destroyer and Japan’s JS Ise helicopter destroyer.

“Freedom Edge expresses the will of South Korea, the US and Japan to promote trilateral interoperability and protect freedom for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including the Korean Peninsula,” the JCS said in a statement.

The exercise will focus on ballistic missile defence, air defence, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, maritime interdiction and defensive cyber training, the JCS said, adding the three sides will continue to expand Freedom Edge going forward.

The new exercise takes its name from key bilateral exercises the US holds regularly with the Asian neighbours — Freedom Shield with South Korea and Keen Edge with Japan.

While the three countries have held combined maritime and aerial exercises, Freedom Edge marks their first trilateral exercise to take place across multiple domains.

Freedom Edge also takes place amid growing concerns over deepening military ties between North Korea and Russia.

Last Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in Pyongyang, where they signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty that calls for military assistance if one of them is attacked.

South Korea, the US and Japan have jointly condemned the expanding military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.