South Korea, U.S., Japan Conduct Joint Aerial Exercises
(MENAFN) South Korea, the United States, and Japan conducted joint aerial exercises Friday aimed at bolstering their combined defense capabilities against North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile programs, the South Korean defense ministry announced.
The training unfolded in international airspace near South Korea’s Jeju Island and featured at least one US B-52H strategic bomber operating alongside South Korea’s KF-16 and Japan’s F-2 fighter jets, according to a statement cited by media. This marked the first B-52H deployment to the Korean Peninsula in 2025.
Friday’s drills followed similar combined air exercises held on June 18, which were the inaugural joint operations under President Lee Jae-myung’s administration.
"Based on close coordination, the three countries will cooperate to jointly deter and respond to North Korea's threats while continuing with three-way training," the ministry said.
The exercises coincided with a summit of the top military leaders from the three nations in Seoul, where they assessed the evolving security landscape in the region and discussed ways to deepen their trilateral defense partnership.
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine emphasized the urgent necessity of strengthening security collaboration among South Korea, the US, and Japan amid an "unprecedented" military expansion by North Korea and China.
Speaking alongside his South Korean counterpart Adm. Kim Myung-soo and Japanese counterpart Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, Caine said, "Our focus in the United States remains on reestablishing deterrence, and doing so needs and requires the trilateral cooperation between our three countries," adding, "the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and China are undergoing an unprecedented military buildup with a clear and unambiguous intent to move forward with their own agendas."
This meeting was the first Trilateral Chiefs of Defense gathering hosted in Seoul and marked Gen. Caine’s inaugural visit to South Korea as the US military’s highest-ranking officer since Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. visited in November 2023.
The three allies also agreed to expand their trilateral multi-domain Freedom Edge exercises and strongly condemned North Korea’s ongoing nuclear and missile advancements as well as its increasing military ties with Russia, media reported.
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