BUSAN, Republic of Korea (March 28, 2023) Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy sailors wave ROK and U.S. flags during a port visit for the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Nimitz is in U.S. 7th Fleet conducting routine operations. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Hannah Kantner)

United Front: South Korea, US, And Japan Stage Joint Anti-Submarine Exercises

Reuters

Total Views: 2284

April 4, 2023

by Soo-hyang Choi (Reuters) The navies of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will hold two days of anti-submarine exercises starting Monday to better counter North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile capabilities, South Korea’s defense ministry said.

The drills will be staged in international waters off South Korea’s southern island of Jeju, involving a U.S. carrier strike group led by USS Nimitz, which had arrived in the southeastern city of Busan last week.

The trilateral drills come as North Korea unveiled last week new, smaller nuclear warheads, vowed to produce more weapons-grade nuclear materials to expand its arsenal, and boasted of what it called a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone.

This week’s exercises will use a mobile anti-submarine warfare training target to improve the capabilities needed to detect, track and destroy North Korean underwater threats, the ministry said.

The three countries last held trilateral anti-submarine drills in September – the first time in five years – amid tension over North Korea’s unprecedented number of missile tests.

(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi. Editing by Gerry Doyle, Reuters)