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Monday, a day after Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile test, saw the start of South Korea and the United States’ first joint naval exercise in the vicinity of the peninsula in five years.
In order to defend South Korea from the nuclear-armed North, Washington, Seoul’s main security ally, has around 28,500 troops there.
Following years of unsuccessful negotiation with North Korea under his predecessor, hawkish President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea has vowed to intensify joint military drills with the United States. Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May.
The South Korean navy said in a statement that the exercise was planned to show the alliance’s strong willingness to confront North Korean provocations.
More than 20 vessels and a variety of aircraft will participate in the four-day training exercise off the east coast of South Korea. These vehicles and aircraft will practise anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare operations, tactical manoeuvres, and other maritime activities, it was noted.
Senior South Korean naval official Kwak Kwang-sub stated in the statement that the drill would “further improve our capabilities to undertake cooperative operations between the naval forces of the two nations.”
The exercises come a day after Pyongyang, which has nuclear weapons, launched a second ballistic missile, the latest in a record-breaking series of weapons tests this year.
Due to its efforts to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, North Korea is subject to numerous international sanctions.
A Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM), a weapon Pyongyang last tested in May, had also been detected in Seoul, according to the president’s office on Saturday.
This month, the North updated its nuclear policy, establishing a “first strike” doctrine and pledging never to give up its nuclear weapons.
Long-standing joint exercises between the allies, which they maintain are solely defensive, are conducted. They are viewed as invasion drills by North Korea, though.
The biggest joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea since 2018 were held last month. These exercises marked the start of extensive training sessions that had been reduced back as a result of COVID-19 and the diplomatic détente with Pyongyang.
