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The USS Ronald Reagan participates in a joint anti-submarine drill with South Korean and Japanese naval forces in waters off the eastern coast of Korea on Sept. 30, 2022. From right to left are the nuclear-propelled USS Annapolis submarine, the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, the ROKS Munmu the Great, the JS Asahi, the Aegis-equipped USS Benfold destroyer, and the USS Chancellorsville guided missile cruiser. (courtesy of the ROK Navy)

South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said Monday that Korea, the US and Japan will be holding two days of search and rescue exercises, along with naval drills exercises aimed at detecting, tracking and destroying submarines in international waters south of Jeju Island on Monday and Tuesday.

“We are holding search and rescue exercises and anti-submarine exercises in response to the growing underwater threat posed by North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles,” the Defense Ministry said Monday.

The US Navy will be represented in the exercise by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur (DDG-73) and USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108), the Korean Navy by Aegis-powered destroyer ROKS Yulgok Yi I (DDG-992) and destroyers ROKS Choe Yeong (DDH-981) and ROKS Dae Jo-yeong (DDH-977), and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force by destroyer JS Umigiri (DD-158).

The exercises will involve autonomous underwater targets shaped like torpedoes. That appears to be a response to the nuclear-capable underwater attack drones recently unveiled by North Korea that are said to be capable of creating a “radioactive tsunami.”

Korea’s Defense Ministry said the three countries are resuming search and rescue exercises after a hiatus of seven years. “The Korea-US-Japan search and rescue exercises were first held in 2008 in the service of disaster response and humanitarian aid. They are now resuming seven years after being suspended in 2016,” the ministry said.

This is the fourth round of joint maritime exercises the three countries have held near the Korean Peninsula since Yoon Suk-yeol became Korean president. Anti-submarine exercises were held in international waters off the eastern coast of Korea on Sept. 30, 2022, and missile defense exercises were held in international waters near Dokdo in October 2022 and on March 22 this year.

The US and Japan had previously suggested holding trilateral exercises to respond to North Korea’s ballistic missile threat during the presidency of Moon Jae-in. But the Moon administration declined, believing the exercises’ actual objective was to counter China and Russia.

North Korea strongly objected to South Korea’s joint exercises with the US. The state-run Korean Central News Agency said Sunday that the “warmongers” will pay the price for their reckless behavior.

The South Korean military remarked that it’s “closely following movements in North Korea.”

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]