The United States, Japan, and South Korea are once again taking joint action against North Korea, Japan, South Korea, and other countries
According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean Navy stated that the United States, South Korea, and Japan conducted a trilateral missile defense exercise in the eastern waters of the Korean Peninsula on July 16th.
According to reports, three Aegis destroyers were used in this exercise, namely the South Korean Navy's Kuriya Lee, the US Navy's John Finn, and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force's Maya.
The report pointed out that during the exercise, the hypothetical North Korea launched a ballistic missile, and the armed forces of the three countries focused on the process of discovering and tracking the hypothetical ballistic missile, and conducted information sharing.
A South Korean naval officer said that this exercise provides an opportunity to enhance the South Korean military's ability to respond to ballistic missiles and enhances security cooperation between the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
The officer also stated, "Based on the strong response system and trilateral cooperation of the South Korean military, it will effectively respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats."
The exercise on July 16th was the fourth such exercise during the tenure of the South Korean government led by Yoon Seok yeol.
On July 13th, North Korea's official news agency, Korean Central News Agency, reported that on the 12th, North Korea tested the "Mars Artiller-18" intercontinental ballistic missile and called it the "core weapon system" of its strategic armed forces.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, this test firing has demonstrated the capability, reliability, and military effectiveness of the new strategic weapon system, and verified the credibility of North Korea's nuclear strategic armed forces. In this test launch, the first stage of the missile was set to standard ballistic flight mode, and the second and third stages were set to high angle flight mode. The missile had an altitude of over 6000 kilometers and a flight time of over 4000 seconds before accurately landing in the target waters of the eastern waters of North Korea.