South Korea, U.S. and Japan begin naval drills to deter North’s SLBMs

South Korea, the United States and Japan began a two-day trilateral naval exercise Monday, joined by the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, in waters south of the Korean Peninsula to strengthen deterrence against the North’s nuclear and missile threats.

Anti-submarine and search-and-rescue drills involving destroyers from the three countries’ navies took place in international waters off the southern coast of Jeju Island, Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense said.

The drills aim to boost the three countries’ responsiveness to underwater threats, such as North Korea’s recently improving submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), said the ministry.

The South Korean Navy deployed its Aegis radar-equipped destroyer Yulgok Yi I and Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyers Choe Yeong and Dae Jo Yeong and fast combat support ship Soyang.

They joined the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur and the USS Wayne E. Meyer, both equipped with the Aegis radars.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Asagiri-class destroyer JS Umigiri also participated in the exercise.

The anti-submarine drill will focus on enhancing the countries’ capabilities to detect, track, share information and destroy any North Korean underwater threats, including training with unmanned underwater vehicles, according to the Defense Ministry.

During the search-and-rescue drill, the three countries will practice disaster response and humanitarian assistance, such as providing first-aid, transfer of patients and other emergency procedures in simulated maritime accidents.

The trilateral search-and-rescue exercise this week is the first of its kind in seven years, according to the ministry. It first commenced in 2008 but was suspended after 2017.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo last held a trilateral anti-submarine exercise on Sept. 30 last year, joined by the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, also the first such drill in five years.

In October last year, the three countries held a missile defense exercise in international waters of the East Sea and again in February.

The trilateral maritime exercise may be taking place in waters off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula rather than the East Sea because the previous exercises were near Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets, also claimed by Japan.

The USS Nimitz made a port call in Busan last Monday and trained bilaterally with the South Korean Navy the following day.

“This exercise will be a good opportunity to improve the maritime operational capability of Korea, the United States and Japan to respond to underwater threats such as North Korea’s SLBMs, which are growing more sophisticated,” said Kim In-ho, chief of the South Korean Navy’s Maritime Task Force Flotilla 7.

In October 2021, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced the successful test-firing of a new type of small SLBM.

Last month, North Korea claimed to have tested an underwater drone capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could create a “radioactive tsunami.”

Its state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the “Haeil-1 type underwater nuclear attack drone” was tested on March 21 and that its test warhead was detonated on March 23.

North Korea revealed its Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warhead last Tuesday, the same day the USS Nimitz arrived in Busan.

This week’s trilateral exercise particularly highlights tightening security cooperation among the United States and its two East Asian allies following the recent thaw in bilateral relations following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo last month.

The two leaders agreed to normalize the General Security of Military Information Agreement, a military intelligence-sharing pact, and strengthen trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan to better counter North Korea’s threats during the March 16 summit.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]