South Korea, U.S. and Japan to hold Freedom Edge military drills in September

South Korea, the United States and Japan will conduct their trilateral military exercise in September, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Friday.

The multi-domain exercise will take place from Sept. 7 to 11 in international waters off the coast of Jeju Island. 

"The exercise is defensive in nature, which is held by the three nations annually to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and to safeguard regional peace and stability," the JCS said.

Freedom Edge was first launched in 2024 as a follow-through on commitments made at the August 2023 Camp David summit, where the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan met to formalize trilateral security cooperation against North Korean threats. The exercises cover areas such as ballistic missile defense, air defense, anti-submarine warfare and maritime interdiction. 

There have been three rounds so far, in June 2024, November 2024 and September 2025. 

The announcement of the Freedom Edge exercise comes as South Korea and the United States scaled back their separate bilateral Ulchi Freedom Shield drills earlier this month, cutting the exercise's duration and scale by half after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to reduce the drills. Trump said large-scale exercises could send an "inappropriate and hostile" message to North Korea as he pushes to restart dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]