- The United States, South Korea, and Japan conducted large-scale joint naval exercises to demonstrate their strength against North Korea.
- A U.S. aircraft carrier also participated in the naval exercise, which was aimed at improving the ability to respond to threats from North Korea.
- Senior diplomats from the three allies met in Seoul to discuss the escalating conflict.
South Korea's military announced Wednesday that the United States, South Korea and Japan have conducted what is likely the largest joint naval exercise in history in a show of strength against nuclear-armed North Korea. Senior diplomats from the three allies were scheduled to meet in Seoul to discuss the worsening conflict with North Korea.
The exercise off South Korea's Jeju Island, which also included an American aircraft carrier, aims to strengthen countries' comprehensive deterrence and response capabilities against North Korean nuclear, missile, and underwater threats, as well as to combat illegal North Korean weapons. Training to prevent maritime transport was also an objective. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was a weapon of mass destruction. He did not say whether the drill reflected concerns about North Korea allegedly supplying weapons to Russia to support the war in Ukraine.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has carried out provocative weapons tests and threats, and tensions in the region have risen to their highest point in years.
Kim Jong-un moves to amend North Korea's constitution, says 'no' to South Korea, one enemy”
On Monday, at a rubber-stamp parliament in Pyongyang, Kim declared that North Korea was abandoning its longstanding commitment to peaceful reunification with South Korea, and to eliminate the idea of a shared nation between the war-torn countries. ordered to rewrite North Korea's constitution. He said that South Koreans are “top-class agents” of the US, which is obsessed with confrontation, and reiterated North Korea's threat to annihilate South Korea with nuclear weapons if provoked.
The US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson sails on the high seas during a recent joint training exercise in 2024. The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint naval exercise involving the aircraft carrier in the latest show of strength against nuclear-armed North Korea. (Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, Associated Press)
Kim's speech came a day after North Korea conducted its first ballistic test in 2024. State media said the test was a new solid-fuel medium-range missile with a hypersonic warhead on its tip, reflecting North Korea's efforts to evolve its lineup of weapons to target U.S. military bases. It was reported that there was. Both in Guam and Japan.
In response to North Korea's increased nuclear testing activity, the United States and its Asian allies are expanding joint military exercises. Mr. Kim has denounced the demonstrations as a dry run for an invasion, and the exercises increasingly involve major U.S. military assets such as aircraft carriers, long-range bombers and nuclear submarines.
North Korea abolishes agency in charge of relations with South Korea
Kim has also strengthened his foothold in the region by making visible relations with neighboring Russia and China, which are also at odds with the United States, as he seeks to break from isolation and join a united front against the United States. are doing.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Song Hui visited Moscow and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to discuss improving bilateral relations, amid growing international concerns over alleged arms cooperation between the two countries.
North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that in a separate meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Choi made unspecified comments about strengthening the two countries' “joint action on regional and international issues, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.” He said he had held discussions.
Nine warships participated in the trilateral naval exercise, a three-day program that concluded Wednesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, including the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and South Korean and Japanese Aegis warships. Approximately five vessels typically participate in the exercise. South Korea's military did not immediately confirm media assessments that the exercise was the country's largest trilateral naval exercise.
In Seoul, South Korea's nuclear envoy Kim Gang held a tripartite meeting scheduled for Thursday with US President Joe Biden's deputy special representative for North Korea, John Park, on Wednesday to coordinate the response to North Korea. Prior to the meeting, he met with Japan's special envoy, Hiroyuki Namazu. According to Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim and Namaz spoke about the North Korean leader's latest comments toward South Korea, including Sunday's missile test and recent shelling near South Korea's disputed maritime border. We discussed recent military actions.
North Korea launches solid-fuel missile with hypersonic warhead, state media claims
“The two countries deplore North Korea's aggressive rhetoric that misrepresents the causes of rising tensions in the region and threatens war, and such actions strengthen the security cooperation of the three countries,” the South Korean ministry said in a statement. We just agreed to do it.”
The ministry said the envoys also discussed Choi's visit to Russia and called for a “tough and unified” international response to any illegal military cooperation between Moscow and North Korea, including the alleged transfer of North Korean missiles to Russia. vowed to adjust.
The U.S. and South Korean governments have claimed that North Korea is providing Russia with weapons supplies such as artillery and missiles to support a protracted invasion of Ukraine. Both Moscow and North Korea deny the accusations.
Conservative South Korean President Yun Seok-Yeol has vowed to expand military cooperation with the United States and Japan, while vowing that the United States would quickly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to defend its allies in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack. We are seeking stronger reassurance from the government.
