Seoul, Feb. 22, (dpa/GNA) - The United States has held a joint naval manoeuvre on missile defence with its allies South Korea and Japan amid growing tensions with North Korea.
The general staff in South Korea announced that the three countries had each sent a destroyer to the exercise, which was held on Wednesday in international waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
The exercise “strengthened security cooperation and consolidated their response systems,” it said. The exercise simulated targets with the help of computers.
According to a tweet from the US Indo-Pacific Command, the three sides “conducted a trilateral ballistic missile defence exercise Feb. 22, enhancing interoperability and strengthening the trilateral relationship.” The three countries held a similar missile defence exercise last October.
The US and its East Asian allies feel threatened by North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programme. North Korea accuses the US of being hostile to it.
On Saturday, the largely internationally isolated country tested a long-range missile that could theoretically reach US territory. On Monday, it followed up with the launch of two missiles that Japan and South Korea had identified as short-range ballistic missiles.
Japan has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council because of the recent North Korean missile tests. North Korea is prohibited by UN resolutions from testing any ballistic missiles, which – depending on their design – could carry a nuclear warhead.
GNA