World News | South Korea, the United States and Japan hold missile defense exercises in the East China Sea

Seoul [South Korea]April 17 (ANI): South Korea, the United States and Japan started a trilateral missile defense exercise in international waters of the East China Sea on Monday, the Seoul Navy said. It comes as efforts to boost deterrence against North Korean threats are ramped up, Yonhap news agency reported.

The three countries have been stepping up security coordination following Pyongyang’s provocative actions, such as last Thursday’s launch of what it said was a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, Yonhap news agency reported.

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The latest exercise involved three Aegis-equipped destroyers, South Korea’s Yulgok Yi I, the US’s USS Benfold and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force’s JS Atago, according to the armed forces.

The exercise focused on practicing procedures for detecting and tracking computer-simulated ballistic missile targets and sharing related information, Yonhap news agency reported.

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“This is an opportunity to strengthen security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan against North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats, and strengthen our navy’s ability to respond to ballistic missile launches,” a South Korean navy official said.

The last time the three countries held such a three-way missile defense exercise was in February.

Last week, in a high-level defense dialogue known as the Defense Trilateral, the countries agreed to hold regular missile defense and anti-submarine exercises in response to the North Korean threat. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)