 |
| ▲ This file photo, provided by the Army, shows troops boarding a CH-47 helicopter during a joint aerial exercise between South Korea and the U.S. militaries on March 19, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
defense ministry-trilateral drills
S. Korea turns down U.S. offer for 3-way drills with Tokyo right before Japan's celebratory event on Dokdo
SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has 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 for its territorial claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, sources said Monday.
On Jan. 15, the U.S. 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. 15-18 and was also right before Japan's "Takeshima Day."
A Japanese prefecture has designated Feb. 22 as "Takeshima Day" to hold a regional event to assert Japan's territorial claim to the Dokdo islets. Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between the two neighbors as Tokyo continues to make the sovereignty claims.
In response, Seoul's defense ministry suggested pushing up the date of the trilateral drills so they would be staged far before Japan's regional event and also proposed conducting a bilateral aerial exercise with Washington after Japan's commemoration.
But the U.S. dismissed Seoul's offer earlier this month and notified South 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.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
