Introduction
Introduction Statistics Contact Development Disclaimer Help
.-') _ .-') _
( OO ) ) ( OO ) )
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,'
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | )
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--'
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Exercises show Washington keeping alliances strong as Pacific
adversaries bring new threats
Analysis by Brad Lendon, CNN
Updated:
1:33 AM EDT, Tue September 16, 2025
Source: CNN
The United States, South Korea and Japan this week are conducting
“advanced” trilateral air and naval exercises in East Asia, less
than two weeks after the leaders of Russia, China and North Korea
issued an unprecedented challenge to the US-led world order.
The Freedom Edge 2025 exercise, being conducted around South Korea’s
southern Jeju Island, is aimed at “countering North Korea’s
nuclear and missile threats and safeguarding peace and stability in the
region,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a news
release.
The US military’s Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii said the exercise
will be used to “refine ballistic missile defense” between the US
and its two key Asian allies and represents “the most advanced
demonstration of trilateral defense cooperation to date,” without
giving details.
The five-day Freedom Edge drills come as the same time as a major
US-Japan bilateral exercise – – that has seen Washington deploy
missile launchers with the range to hit mainland China to Japan.
Though the exercises are planned well in advance, they come less than
two weeks after the leaders of China, Russia and North Korea stood
shoulder to shoulder in Beijing for that showcased China’s modern
weaponry – including new ballistic missiles – and unprecedented
solidarity between the three nuclear-armed authoritarian partners.
Increased cooperation directly with Russia has seen North Korea send
troops and weaponry to aid its’ war in Ukraine, and Pyongyang and
Moscow sign a .
Many observers expect North Korea may get the benefit of Russian
missile technology to further its nuclear missile program.
Meanwhile, in its readout of talks between Chinese leader Xi Jinping
and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Beijing, China made no mention of
the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a long-held goal.
Analysts say that indicates of North Korea as a nuclear power.
Both Freedom Edge and Resolute Dragon have drawn criticism from
adversaries.
A statement from North Korea’s Central Military Commission called
Freedom Edge “the most comprehensive and offensive war drill for
aggression in terms of scale, content and nature” that has been
conducted on the southern Korean Peninsula.
“The US and its allies are gradually undermining the security
environment of the Korean Peninsula,” the statement from Pak Jong
Chon, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, said.
For its part, China last month urged the US not to send the Typhon
missile system to Japan for the Resolute Dragon exercises.
Analysts noted important differences in the spectacle of the military
parade in Beijing and the current exercises happening with the US and
its allies.
“Kim, Putin, and Xi sent a clear geopolitical signal by appearing
shoulder to shoulder at a massive military parade in Tiananmen Square.
That was symbolic of a shared willingness to advance power and
interests against external pressure,” said Leif-Eric Easley,
professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
“In contrast, US-Japan-South Korea trilateral defense exercises are
less political theater and more practical cooperation,” Easley said.
And they’re enduring, said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the
Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.
“Security cooperation between South Korea and the US, and among South
Korea, the US and Japan have been in place well before economic issues
emerged between Seoul and Washington,” Hong said. He added that the
three share a view that “consistent responses and messaging toward
North Korea and stable and continued exercises are required.”
In Korea’s case, those economic issue include the in Georgia that saw
hundreds of South Koreans detained; and in Japan’s by a trade deal
with Washington that some analysts say tilts in the US’s favor.
Robert Ward, Japan chair at the International Institute for Strategic
Studies, said the Resolute Dragon exercises send “an important
strategic message to China about the depth and breadth of US-Japan
security cooperation.”
This year’s version of the annual exercises is the largest since they
began in 2021, Ward said.
“Given the uncertainties over US trade policy, this is doubly
important,” he added.
While the exercises off Korea and in Japan may be drawing headlines at
the moment, it’s notable that they are just two of in a long list of
US exercises and deployments around the region.
Last weekend, the US, Japanese and Philippine militaries concluded
their second set of maneuvers in the South China Sea in a month,
reaffirming “defense cooperation as tensions rise over China’s
moves to tighten its grip on contested waters,” a press release from
the Armed Forces of the Philippines said.
And last Friday, US and British warships steamed through the Taiwan
Strait.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command accused the
US and British warships of “trouble-making and provocation.”
But the US military said they were exercising navigational rights and
freedoms in what is an international waterway.
Taken together, the range of exercises show the military solidarity
Washington often calls “iron-clad” appears to remain just that.
“This exercise series represents the latest indicator of the growing
cooperation and interoperability among America’s allies in the
Asia-Pacific region,” Carl Schuster, a former director of operations
at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, said.
And, speaking specifically about the trilateral exercises off Korea,
the US Indo-Pacific Command agrees.
“The continued cooperation of all three nations tangibly demonstrates
strength and an unwavering commitment to the defense of our vital
interests against shared threats and strengthens deterrence in the
Asia-Pacific through bolstering combat-credible forces,” it said.
CNN’s Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report.
<- back to index
You are viewing proxied material from codevoid.de. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.