The United States, South Korea and Japan opened an air and naval exercise off a South Korean island on Monday (September 15, 2025) in their latest joint drill condemned by North Korea as a "reckless show of strength."
The exercise called Freedom Edge is aimed at strengthening the countries' combined operational capabilities in the sea, air and cyberspace and is necessary to counter North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats, South Korea's Defence Ministry said.
U.S., South Korea, Japan conduct naval drills as tensions deepen with North Korea
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the exercise will include U.S. Marine and Air Force aerial assets and feature enhanced ballistic-missile and air-defence drills, medical evacuations and maritime operations training, making it "the most advanced demonstration of trilateral defence cooperation to date."
The exercise off South Korea's southern Jeju Island runs through Friday.
