Washington, June 27 (FN Agency) The first joint multi-domain exercise between Japan, the United States, and South Korea, dubbed Freedom Edge, began in the East China Sea on Thursday and will last three days, the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) announced. “Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States began the inaugural execution of Exercise Freedom Edge, a trilateral multi-domain exercise, on June 27–29, 2024,” the command said in a statement. A total of seven warships, including the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, as well as fighter and patrol aircraft, will take part in the three-day exercise. The drills will practice repelling ballistic missile strikes, submarine strikes, and cyberattacks, USINDOPACOM said.
The goal of the exercise is to express “the will of Japan, ROK, and the U.S. to promote trilateral interoperability and protect freedom for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, including the Korean Peninsula,” the command added. The joint exercises between the three countries were announced last August at the Camp David Summit. Earlier in June, the countries agreed to hold exercises in several areas at a meeting of defence ministers during the Shangri-La Dialogue. The previous trilateral exercise between the US, Japan, and South Korea was held in April south of South Korea’s Jeju Island. The drills were conducted to respond to threats from North Korean submarines, including possible ballistic missile launches.