Seoul: The United States, South Korea and Japan have begun their five-day Freedom Edge trilateral military exercise, strengthening operational coordination among the three countries amid continuing concerns over North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities.
The exercise is being conducted in international waters east and south of South Korea's Jeju Island and will run from September 7 to 11.
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Freedom Edge is designed to improve interoperability across multiple domains, including maritime, air and cyber operations, with training also covering areas such as ballistic-missile defence and anti-submarine warfare.
The exercise provides the three militaries an opportunity to improve coordination and develop common operating procedures for potential regional contingencies.
The drills come shortly after the United States and South Korea scaled back their major bilateral Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, making the continuation of the trilateral Freedom Edge exercise particularly significant.
It demonstrates that despite changes in the scale of individual exercises, trilateral military coordination between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo remains active.
The exercise also comes as North Korea continues to expand its military capabilities. Pyongyang has simultaneously commissioned a new 5,000-ton-class destroyer, with Kim Jong Un describing it as part of the country's nuclear response system.
Freedom Edge is becoming an important mechanism for linking the military capabilities of the US, Japan and South Korea.
For Washington, closer coordination among its two key Northeast Asian allies strengthens deterrence and crisis-response capabilities. For Seoul and Tokyo, it provides a mechanism to improve interoperability against shared security threats.
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