South Korea, US, Japan to hold trilateral military drills in September

South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold their annual trilateral Freedom Edge military exercise off South Korea’s southern coast from September 7 to 11, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has said.

It noted that the multi-domain drills will take place in international waters east and south of Jeju Island, Caliber.Az reports, citing Korean media.

According to the JCS, the exercise is defensive in nature and is held by the three nations annually to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and to safeguard regional peace and stability.

The exercise will focus on strengthening interoperability among the three countries, including improved real-time data sharing and closer coordination in responding to evolving regional threats, the US Pacific Command said in a statement released by US Forces Japan.

"The growth of this exercise and the continued collaboration of all three nations demonstrate our collective strength, high level of interoperability, and an unwavering commitment to the defense of our nations and the security of a free and open Indo-Pacific," it added.

The drills will also feature multinational maritime and air operations, along with enhanced air defence scenarios, medical evacuation training and maritime interdiction exercises, the command added.

The announcement comes after Seoul and Washington reduced the scale of their joint Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise by half last week following US President Donald Trump’s order to scale back the drills, a move widely viewed as an effort to ease tensions with North Korea.

The decision had raised questions over whether the three countries would proceed with Freedom Edge this year.

However, the US Pacific Command told Yonhap News Agency earlier this week that Washington, Seoul and Tokyo were coordinating preparations for the exercise, indicating that it would go ahead as scheduled.

North Korea has repeatedly condemned military exercises involving South Korea and the US, describing them as preparations for an invasion despite the allies’ insistence that the drills are defensive.

Trump ordered the Pentagon to modify UFS, saying the exercises could send an "inappropriate and hostile" message to Pyongyang. His comments came as he renewed efforts to resume dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year.

It remains unclear which major US military assets will take part in this year’s Freedom Edge. Last year’s exercise was held without a US aircraft carrier for the first time since the drills began, as American carrier strike groups were deployed to the Middle East.

"The scale and scope of the exercise will roughly be on par with previous years," a JCS official told reporters.

Freedom Edge was established following the trilateral Camp David summit in August 2023, becoming one of the key outcomes of the meeting and an important step toward institutionalising security cooperation among the three US allies in Asia.

The three previous Freedom Edge exercises were held in June and November 2024 and in September 2025.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov