South Korea, U.S., Japan to launch trilateral ‘Freedom Edge’ exercise


Seoul, The defense chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Sunday to launch a trilateral multidomain exercise this summer, Seoul’s defense ministry said, amid joint efforts to strengthen security cooperation against evolving North Korean threats.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Minoru Kihara, respectively, reached the agreement during their three-way talks on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore, according to South Korean News Agency (Yonhap).

The exercise, named Freedom Edge, will take place across various domains, including air, maritime, underwater and cyber. It takes its name from key bilateral exercises the U.S. holds with the Asian neighbors — Freedom Shield with South Korea and Keen Edge with Japan.

The ministry did not provide further details of the planned exercise, such as its specific timing and location.

Source: Bahrain News Agency