US-Japan-South Korea agree to expand Freedom Edge exercise

The three countries conducted the Freedom Edge exercise for the first time at the end of June, mobilizing many warships and aircraft.

South Korean destroyer ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong (right), aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (center) and Japanese destroyer JS Ariake during a trilateral exercise off the southern coast of Jeju Island in April 2024.

On July 18, at regular talks in Tokyo, top generals from South Korea, the US and Japan agreed to expand the Freedom Edge exercise.

According to Yonhap news agency, Chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Admiral Kim Myung-soo, and his American and Japanese counterparts, General Charles Q. Brown Jr. and General Yoshida Yoshihide, respectively, reached the above agreement.

“The sides affirmed their commitment to expanding the Freedom Edge exercise and discussed additional ways to institutionalize trilateral cooperation in support of the shared regional vision of peace , stability and deterrence,” the JCS said in a statement.

During the meeting, top generals expressed disapproval of North Korea's continued nuclear and missile development and its growing military cooperation with Russia, according to the JCS.

General Charles Q. Brown Jr. reaffirmed the United States' "ironclad" commitment to defend South Korea and Japan, and all three agreed that trilateral security cooperation is vital, not only for the peace and security of the Indo- Pacific region but also for the global common good.

The three countries conducted the Freedom Edge exercise for the first time in late June, mobilizing numerous warships and aircraft, including the US Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, South Korea's ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong destroyer and Japan's JS Ise helicopter destroyer.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/my-nhat-han-nhat-tri-mo-rong-cuoc-tap-tran-freedom-edge-279165.html