SEOUL: The US, South Korea and Japan held a joint naval missile defence exercise on Sunday (Jul 16) to counter North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats, South Korea’s navy said, days after the North launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
North Korea fired its latest Hwasong-18 missile, which Pyongyang describes as the core of its nuclear strike force, off the east coast on Wednesday in what it said was a “strong practical warning” to the adversaries.
Sunday’s trilateral drill was conducted in international waters between South Korea and Japan, bringing together destroyers equipped with Aegis radar systems from the three countries, the navy said.
Washington and its Asian allies have been working to improve their information-sharing system on North Korea’s missiles. South Korea and Japan are independently linked to US radar systems but not to each other’s.