North Korea provokes, allies retaliate: Inside story of joint missile defence drill

As global tensions continue to rise, the United States, South Korea, and Japan convened on Sunday for a collaborative missile defense exercise. This joint operation is aimed at strengthening their combined response to escalating nuclear and missile threats posed by North Korea.

The exercise incorporated Aegis radar system-equipped destroyers from all three nations and comes on the heels of North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, the Hwasong-18, touted as its ‘most powerful’ missile yet.

North Korea executed the missile launch following allegations of U.S. spy plane intrusions into its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and took umbrage at the recent visit of an American nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine to South Korea. In the face of such actions, the trilateral missile defense drill emerges as an effort to master a coordinated response to these missile threats.

Currently, South Korea and Japan are each linked individually to the U.S. radar system. However, the establishment of a robust information-sharing regime between the two East Asian nations is still a work in progress. As conveyed by a South Korean Navy officer, their military aims to effectively address North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats through a robust response system and trilateral collaboration.

US, Japan, and South Korea conduct joint missile defence drill in response to North Korean threats. Photo courtesy of SpaceX-Imagery from Pixabay.

This year has seen North Korea conduct its second major missile launch aimed at intimidating its southern neighbors. State-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “guided” the launch, which caused a “grand explosion” that allegedly “shook the whole planet”. This act provoked widespread criticism from the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, with assertions that it violated UN sanctions. South Korea’s military condemned the launch as a significant provocation, threatening the peace and security of the Korean peninsula.

In light of the ongoing crisis, South Korea has urged China to adopt a constructive role in addressing regional security threats. On the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Indonesia’s Jakarta, a meeting between China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin culminated in Seoul‘s foreign ministry emphasizing China’s critical role in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. The U.S. has previously accused China and Russia of shielding North Korea from sanctions and enabling its nuclear programme.