Current:Home > FinanceUS, South Korea and Japan conduct naval drills as tensions deepen with North Korea-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
US, South Korea and Japan conduct naval drills as tensions deepen with North Korea
View Date:2024-12-23 20:08:21
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States, South Korea and Japan conducted combined naval exercises involving an American aircraft carrier in their latest show of strength against nuclear-armed North Korea, South Korea’s military said Wednesday, as the three countries’ senior diplomats were to meet in Seoul to discuss the deepening standoff with Pyongyang.
The training in waters off South Korea’s Jeju island came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues a provocative run in weapons testing and threats that has raised regional tensions to their highest point in years.
At Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament this week, Kim declared that North Korea would abandon its long-standing commitment to a peaceful unification with South Korea and ordered a rewriting of North’s constitution to eliminate the idea of a shared statehood between the war-divided countries.
His speech on Monday came a day after the North conducted its first ballistic test of 2024, which state-media described as a new solid-fuel intermediate range missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead, reflecting its push to advance its lineup of weapons targeting U.S. military bases in Guam and Japan.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the trilateral naval drills, which completed its three-day program on Wednesday, involved nine warships from the countries, including U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and Aegis destroyers from South Korea and Japan.
The exercise was aimed at sharpening the countries’ combined deterrence and response capabilities against North Korean nuclear, missile and underwater threats, and also training for preventing illicit maritime transports of weapons of mass destruction, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It didn’t specify whether the training reflected concerns about North Korea’s alleged arms transfers to Russia to help that country’s war in Ukraine.
In Seoul, South Korean nuclear envoy Kim Gunn was scheduled to meet with Japanese counterpart Namazu Hiroyuki Wednesday, a day before their trilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden’s deputy special representative for North Korea, Jung Pak, to coordinate their response toward the North.
In the face of growing North Korean nuclear threats, the conservative government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been expanding military cooperation and training with the United States and Japan, which Kim has decried as invasion rehearsals. Yoon has also sought stronger reassurances from Washington that it would swiftly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to defend its ally in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.
In his speech at the North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim called described the South Koreans as “top class stooges” of America who were obsessed with confrontation, and repeated a threat that the North would annihilate the South with its nukes if provoked.
veryGood! (538)
Related
- Horoscopes Today, November 10, 2024
- MLB trade deadline revisited: Dodgers pulled off heist to get new bullpen ace
- Coal miner killed on the job in West Virginia. The death marks fourth in the state this year
- YouTuber Nikocado Avocado Debuts 250-Lb. Weight Loss Transformation
- What that 'Disclaimer' twist says about the misogyny in all of us
- Mega Millions jackpot soars to an estimated $800 million
- How to make a budget that actually works: Video tutorial
- Stellantis recalls 1.5M Ram trucks to fix software bug that can disable stability control
- The Daily Money: Inflation is still a thing
- Pamela Anderson on her 'Last Showgirl' dream role: 'I have nothing to lose'
Ranking
- Powerball winning numbers for November 11 drawing: Jackpot hits $103 million
- 13 children, 4 adults visiting western Michigan park stung by ground-nesting bees
- Manhunt underway for suspect in active shooter situation that shut down I-75 in Kentucky
- Tyreek Hill is briefly detained for a traffic violation ahead of Dolphins’ season opener
- Everard Burke Introduce
- Wynn Resorts paying $130M for letting illegal money reach gamblers at its Las Vegas Strip casino
- Coney Island’s iconic Cyclone roller coaster reopens 2 weeks after mid-ride malfunction
- Cars talking to one another could help reduce fatal crashes on US roads
Recommendation
-
Utah AD Mark Harlan fined $40,000 for ripping referees and the Big 12 after loss to BYU
-
The Best Target Products To Help Disguise Scuffs, Wires & All Your Least Favorite Parts of Your Home
-
Elton John unveils new documentary and shares what he wants on his tombstone
-
2 young sisters apparently drowned in a Long Island pond, police say
-
NBC's hospital sitcom 'St. Denis Medical' might heal you with laughter: Review
-
Gordon Ramsay's wife, Tana, reveals PCOS diagnosis. What is that?
-
Kendrick Lamar to Perform at 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show
-
Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer has died at age 58