US, Japan, South Korea start joint sea drills as North Korea makes nuclear threat

SEOUL - The United States, South Korea and Japan started joint naval drills off the Korean peninsula in a move that is certain to anger North Korea, which fired its first missile over Japan in five years when similar exercises were held in 2022.

The two-day anti-submarine and rescue drills started on Monday in international waters off South Korea’s Jeju Island and included vessels from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier group, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said.

“This anti-submarine exercise is prepared to improve the response capabilities of the ROK, US and Japan against North Korea’s growing underwater threats and submarine-launched ballistic missiles,” it added, referring to South Korea by its formal name of Republic of Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime has pledged an unprecedented response to the drills and rolled out new weapons designed to deliver nuclear strikes on the US and the two allies, which host the bulk of American troops in the region.

That response also included a new undersea drone it tested in March that it said could deliver a “radioactive tsunami” – a claim doubted by South Korea’s military.

North Korea has warned that the US and its “puppet state” allies were “bringing themselves closer to a grave danger” with the drills.

It said its nuclear arsenal was ready to be used at any time to deter the “war maniacs’ reckless moves”.

“They should think twice to truly avoid unlucky catastrophe and should be mindful that they will have to pay dearly for their rash acts,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary on Sunday.

North Korea’s biggest benefactor, China, blamed the joint drills for stirring tensions on the divided peninsula.

“Relevant parties should create favourable conditions for the resumption of dialogue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Monday.

The last time Japan, South Korea and the US conducted joint naval training with a US Navy carrier group was in late September and early October.

North Korea responded by

firing a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan in October

that travelled a distance of 4,600km. That was the farthest North Korea had ever launched a missile.

Ms Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, has threatened to

turn the Pacific Ocean into a firing range

if joint drills are not halted.

The rhetoric may be a hint that Pyongyang could start testing whether its nuclear warhead designs can withstand the heat of re-entering the atmosphere, as it looks to increase its capability to deliver a credible nuclear attack. 

In late March, Mr Kim visited a facility charged with making warheads, a visit that underscored that he has no intention of abandoning his atomic arsenal. BLOOMBERG