SEOUL – South Korea, Japan and the United States staged long-planned joint naval exercises involving an American aircraft carrier to ensure readiness against nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, Seoul’s navy said on April 12.

North Korea has been accelerating weapons’ development, testing solid-fuel hypersonic missiles last week. Leader Kim Jong Un said on April 10 that now is the time to be more prepared for war than ever, citing an unstable geopolitical situation.

“The participating forces conducted anti-submarine warfare drills to improve their responses to North Korean underwater threats, including from submarines and submarine-launched ballistic missiles,” the South Korean navy added in a statement.

The two-day drills held in international waters between South Korea and Japan from April 11 brought together the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and destroyers Howard, Russell and Daniel Inouye, with warships from the Asian neighbours.

The training, aimed to step up their combined capability to respond to North Korea’s threats, follows a multi-year joint exercise plan set up after a three-way summit in 2023, the South Korean navy said.

The three navies also practised moves designed to block North Korea’s illegal transport of weapons of mass destruction, and search and rescue training to help ships in distress. 

In Washington, South Korean and US defence officials held annual talks on April 11, reaffirming plans for tabletop exercises simulating North Korea’s use of a nuclear weapon in upcoming summer drills, Seoul’s Defence Ministry said.

At the Camp David summit in August 2023, leaders of the three countries agreed to stage annual, multi-domain exercises, share real-time information on North Korean missile launches and roll out a hotline for crisis communication. REUTERS