S. Korea, US, Japan launch trilateral Freedom Edge exercise

South Korea, the United States and Japan launched their trilateral multi-domain exercise Monday, the military said, in what is seen as their continued efforts to deepen three-way security cooperation against North Korea's military threats. The five-day Freedom Edge exercise got under way in international waters east and south of South Korea's southern island of Jeju from Sept. 15-19, according to the military. The ongoing exercise is the third round of the trilateral drills, following previous rounds of the exercise conducted in June and November last year, respectively. It is the first such exercise to be held since President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump took office. The military earlier said the three countries will aim to enhance their interoperability to maintain a "solid and stable" trilateral cooperation through the exercise. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the exercise "demonstrates the countries' shared commitment to collectively achieve and maintain peace in the Asia-Pacific." The exercise will feature training aimed at sharpening ballistic missile defense capaWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times