The USA, Japan and South Korea are reacting to military tests from North Korea – and starting maneuvers in international waters. Your own “responsiveness” will be tested.
Seoul – The Naval Forces of the USA have to deter North Korea started a joint maneuver with the navies of South Korea and Japan. The two-day anti-submarine drill was agreed to “improve the responsiveness of South Korea, the United States and Japan against North Korea’s advancing underwater threats,” the Defense Ministry said in Seoul on Monday (April 3). The threats included ballistic missiles that can be launched from submarines.
In addition to warships from Japan and South Korea, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, which Washington had sent to the region with escort ships a week earlier, is also taking part in the trilateral exercise in international waters south of the Korean peninsula. Most recently, the United States had undertaken a similar exercise with its East Asian allies six months earlier.
Tensions between South and North Korea: Military maneuvers increase
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have intensified considerably since last year. Despite being banned by UN resolutions, Pyongyang has increased the scope of its tests with ballistic missiles, which – depending on the design – can also be equipped with a nuclear warhead. In addition, North Korea repeatedly undertook tests with cruise missiles. The largely isolated country said it had tested a new type of underwater military drone that could be equipped with a nuclear warhead.
The United States therefore resumed its joint maneuvers with South Korea in full. Like Japan, the country is under the nuclear umbrella of the United States. Both Asian countries do not have their own nuclear weapons. Because of China’s threatening gestures Japan had decided to upgrade – among other things, Tokyo sees its own interests at risk. (nak/dpa)
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