Seoul: South Korea, the United States, and Japan have conducted joint naval drills involving the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, as announced by Seoul's defense ministry. This initiative aims to enhance deterrence and counter North Korea's military threats.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the trilateral naval drills, which are the first of this year and since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office in January, occurred in international waters south of Jeju island. The exercises took place from Monday through Thursday and included six additional warships from the participating nations. Among these were the South Korean Navy's ROKS Sejong the Great destroyer and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Ikazuchi destroyer.

The focus of the exercise was to improve trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan. The drills were designed to boost deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea's nuclear, missile, and underwater threats, while also enhancing maritime security capacity. The ministry highlighted that these drills are part of regular exercises conducted under a multi-year training plan jointly established by the three nations.

The last joint maritime drills among these countries took place during the second round of the trilateral multidomain Freedom Edge exercise held in November of the previous year. Recently, the three nations have increased security cooperation through combined drills to address North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats.