The South Korean military announced on the 17th that they, along with the United States and Japan, conducted their largest-ever joint maritime exercise. This exercise involved the participation of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. This exercise was carried out in response to the persistent threats from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has been making statements about the “complete occupation of S. Korea” and naming S. Korea as the primary enemy.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff have reported that the navies of South Korea, the United States, and Japan conducted a joint maritime exercise in the southern seas off Jeju Island. The exercise took place from the 15 to the 17 of this month and involved a total of nine ships. This included two South Korean Aegis destroyers, Sejong the Great and Wang Geon, five U.S. Navy ships including the Carl Vinson, and two vessels from the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force such as the Kongo.
This is nearly double the typical participation of about five ships in a tri-nation combined exercise and is known to be the largest in history for such training. Reports suggest that the Carl Vinson was equipped with the latest stealth fighters F-35C and F/A-18 Super Hornets.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff have highlighted that the recent exercise aimed to improve S. Korea, the US, and Japan’s capability to deter and respond to the N. Korean nuclear and missile threats, underwater threats, and maritime security response to the transportation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) at sea. The exercise also aimed to enhance tripartite cooperation to build a rules-based international order.
This exercise is the first joint maritime exercise conducted since S. Korea, the U.S., and Japan jointly established a multi-year training plan on December 19th of last year. It is taking place amidst heightened tensions as Kim Jong-un defines inter-Korean relations as ‘hostile between two states’ and closes communication channels with the South.
Chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kim Myung-soo, and UN Command Commander and U.S. Forces Korea Commander, Paul LaCamera, visited the Carl Vinson on the 15th, first day of the training, to review the exercise and encourage the troops.
Chairman Kim emphasized the importance of the Korea-U.S.-Japan maritime training in deterring and responding to the increasingly sophisticated nuclear missile threats from North Korea. He also expressed the commitment to strengthen the trilateral cooperation posture in accordance with the multi-year training plan.
