The United States and Japan will take part in a three-day joint military exercise with South Korea from Nov. 13, military officials announced, shortly after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and allegedly ratified a major defense pact with Russia.
Known as “Freedom Edge,” the joint exercise will feature South Korean and Japanese fighter jets and maritime patrol aircraft, as well as the USS George Washington, USS Higgins, USS McCampbell, USS Dewey, and F-35, F-18, P-8, and KC-135 aircraft, according to a Nov. 12 statement from the U.S. Indo–Pacific Command (USPACOM).
“Freedom Edge continues to demonstrate the defensive posture and unbreakable will of Japan, the ROK, and the U.S. to promote trilateral multi-domain interoperability and to protect freedom for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including the Korean Peninsula,” USPACOM stated.
USPACOM did not state exactly where the joint exercise would be conducted on the Korean Peninsula.
This marks the second iteration of the joint training exercise, first conducted among the three partner nations in June after leaders agreed in 2023 to bolster trilateral security cooperation amid rising threats from China and North Korea.
According to USPACOM, the latest iteration demonstrates “state-of-the-art air defense capabilities with the integration of 5th generation fighters into a sophisticated multi-domain defense infrastructure.”
“Their incorporation into complex Ballistic Missile Defense, Air Defense, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Anti-Surface Warfare, Maritime Interdiction, and Defensive Cyber trainings, ensures that their combined military and self-defense forces can operate together at the highest level against any threat,” USPACOM’s statement reads.
USPACOM added that the three nations will continue to work closely to expand their cooperation in a “complex security environment.”
North Korean Troops in Combat Alongside Russian Soldiers
The U.S. State Department said on Nov. 12 that North Korean troops have begun engaging in combat operations alongside Russian forces amid Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at a briefing that more than 10,000 soldiers from North Korea have been sent to eastern Russia, with the majority moved to the far western Kursk Oblast, where they have since started combat operations alongside Russian forces.
Patel said Washington is “incredibly concerned by Russia’s decision to turn to the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] to supply soldiers to continue their brutal war against Ukraine.”
Still, Patel said that Russia’s battlefield success using North Korean troops would largely be dictated by how well they can integrate into the Russian military, noting there would likely be issues with interoperability, the language barrier, command and control, and communications.
“The United States is consulting closely with our allies and partners and other countries in the region on the implications of this, on these developments,” he said.
Patel made the comments shortly after North Korea’s state-run media reported that the country ratified a mutual defense treaty with Russia initially signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June.
The treaty includes a provision committing both nations to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Additionally, both countries have agreed to cooperate to establish a “just and multipolar new world order” and strengthen cooperation in various sectors, including peaceful atomic energy, space, food supply, trade, and the economy.
Putin has not yet commented on the alleged ratification of the agreement.
