Afghan Voice Agency  (AVA): South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that a three-day multi-part exercise called "Freedom Edge" will begin early Thursday on the island of Juju, the Yonhap International Service reported. It began in the south of the country.

 

The exercise reflects the will of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), the United States and Japan to enhance the capability of trilateral cooperation and safeguard freedom for peace and stability in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, including the Korean Peninsula,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. 

 

The exercise will focus on ballistic missile defense, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, disruption of enemy naval power and cyber defense training, the statement said.

 

The exercise comes amid North Korea's increased military activity on the Korean Peninsula.

 

Seoul is in alliance with Western powers and Pyongyang is in alliance with Russia. The trilateral exercise was agreed at a Camp David meeting between US President Joe Biden, his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last August. They agreed to hold joint trilateral exercises on an annual and regular basis.

 

The exercise will be attended by the US Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt, a South Korean destroyer and a Japanese helicopter destroyer.