US to steer main naval drill

The joint train with Japan and South Korea coincides with a renewed escalation with Pyongyang

The US, Japan and South Korea will maintain a joint anti-submarine drill involving a nuclear powered plane service within the Sea of Japan for the primary time since 2017, amid tensions over North Korea’s latest missile assessments.

The maneuvers, which start on Friday, will contain the American nuclear-powered plane service USS Ronald Regan, the South Korean destroyer Menmu the Great, and a Japanese Asahi-class destroyer.

The USS Ronald Reagan and three different US warships arrived in South Korea final week, with the service docking within the port of Busan on Friday.

“The training is part of the defense ministry’s steps to restore military cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan to a level before 2017, so as to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” the South Korean Defense Ministry stated on Thursday.

Seoul stated North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday. The same launch was reported final week, following a sample of elevated weapons assessments by Pyongyang because the begin of the yr.

The escalation got here as US Vice President Kamala Harris met South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as a part of her Asian tour. Harris praised the partnership between the international locations as a “linchpin of security and propensity” on the Korean Peninsula and on the world stage.

The White House stated Harris and Yoon mentioned joint responses to “potential future provocations, including through trilateral cooperation with Japan.” 

Pyongyang has repeatedly stated it considers navy workouts across the Korean Peninsula that contain the US as a risk to its safety. Speaking on the UN General Assembly on Monday, North Korean envoy Kim Song argued that the area was caught in “a vicious cycle of tension and confrontation due to the increasing hostility of the US.” 

Kim added that the US-led drills enhance the chance of an armed battle within the area, calling worldwide sanctions on Pyongyang unfair.