Home > National > Defense

Korea turns down U.S. offer of 3-way drills with Tokyo before Japan's celebratory event for Dokdo

Published: 23 Feb. 2026, 18:07

This file photo, provided by the Korean Army, shows troops boarding a CH-47 helicopter during a joint aerial exercise between Korean and the U.S. militaries on March 19, 2025. [YONHAP]

Korea effectively turned down the United States' proposal to stage a trilateral aerial exercise with Japan this month, as the proposed date was right before Tokyo's annual celebration regarding its territorial claim to Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, sources said on Monday.

On Jan. 15, the United States proposed holding trilateral drills with Seoul and Tokyo in February, but the proposed schedule overlapped with this year's Lunar New Year holiday from Feb. 15 to 18 and was also right before Japan's “Takeshima Day.”

A Japanese prefecture has designated Feb. 22 as “Takeshima Day” and holds a regional event to assert Japan's territorial claim to Dokdo. The islets have long been a recurring source of tension between the two neighbors, as Tokyo continues to claim sovereignty.

In response, Seoul's Ministry of National Defense suggested pushing up the date of the trilateral drills so they would be staged well before Japan's regional event and also proposed conducting a bilateral aerial exercise with Washington after Japan's commemoration.

But the United States dismissed Seoul's offer earlier this month and notified Korea of its plan to stage a solo aerial exercise this time, according to the sources.

The U.S. Forces Korea conducted aerial drills in waters off the west coast last Wednesday and separately staged a joint air exercise with Japan off the Japanese coast and the East China Sea on two occasions last week.

Yonhap