The South Korean, Japanese and US armies carried out a missile defense exercise on Sunday in the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in both Koreas) in response to the recent launch of a solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in charge of the North Korean regime, ordered by its president kim jong un.
In the exercise participated three destroyersthe South Korean ROKS Yulgok Yi I, the Japanese JS Maya and the American USS John Finn, according to the South Korean Navy in a statement.
The exercise used North Korean ballistic missiles as simulated targets and served to train response procedures -detection, monitoring and shared information-, according to the text, which indicated that the simulation served to “improve military response capabilities in preparation for the continuous advances of the North Korean nuclear and missile threat”.
The last time the three allies conducted such an exercise was in April, just days after North Korea first launched its hwasong-18 missile, its most sophisticated ICBM.
Last Wednesday Pyongyang launched its second Hwasong-18 into the waters of the Sea of Japan and the action drew unanimous condemnation from Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.
On Friday, the South Korean and US air forces responded in turn by conducting joint exercises that involved the participation of Pentagon B-52 strategic bombers.
After the failure of the 2019 denuclearization negotiations, tensions have risen again on the Korean peninsula, with Pyongyang rejecting any offer of dialogue and carrying out a record number of missile tests and Seoul and Washington resuming their large joint exercises and periodically deploying US strategic assets in the region.
With information from EFE
