The United States, South Korea and Japan started their first anti-submarine drills in six months on Monday (April 3). The drills by the navies are aimed to boost their coordination against increasing North Korean missile threats, South Korea’s ministry said.
A US carrier strike group led by USS Nimitz arrived in the southeastern city of Busan last week to participate in the drills, which are staged in international waters off South Korea’s southern island of Jeju.
The US and several other Western nations consider submarine-launched missiles by the North as serious security threats.
In the past few years, the North has tested sophisticated underwater-launched ballistic missiles and boasted of what it called a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone.
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Meanwhile, the tri-nation drill came in the aftermath of North Korea’s unveiling of new and smaller nuclear warheads last week. Pyongyang had also vowed to produce more weapons-grade nuclear materials to expand its arsenal.
The South Korean ministry also said that this week’s exercises will use a mobile anti-submarine warfare training target to improve the capabilities needed to detect, track and destroy North Korean underwater threats.
As reported by the news agency The Associated Press, the Defense Ministry statement said that in addition to anti-submarine drills, the three countries will practice humanitarian search-and-rescue operations, including saving people who fall into the water and treating emergency patients. It would be the three countries’ first such training in seven years.
(With inputs from agencies)
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