U.S., South Korea, and Japan to hold military drills against North Korean nuclear threat

The United States, South Korea, and Japan are set to hold joint military drills aimed at testing their readiness against North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons threats. Known as the Freedom Edge drills, these exercises will be conducted from September 9 to 11 in international waters south and east of Jeju Island. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the drills are defensive in nature.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on August 17 that the U.S. will significantly reduce joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his "very good" relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul's refusal to support U.S. efforts to denuclearize Iran. However, South Korea later confirmed that joint military exercises with the U.S. have been cut nearly in half.

The scale-back in drills has prompted North Korea to launch approximately ten short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, leading Seoul to heighten surveillance readiness and initiate real-time intelligence sharing with the U.S. and Japan.

Brief written by urgent.news from New Voice of Ukraine's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.