South Korea, the United States and Japan will conduct their 2026 Freedom Edge exercise in international waters east and south of Jeju Island from the 7th to the 11th of next month, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on the 28th.
The JCS described the drills as a defensive annual exercise held by the three countries to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and to safeguard regional peace and stability.
Earlier this month, South Korea and the United States sharply scaled back their regular Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) military exercise to five days from a planned 11 days, following President Donald Trump's instruction to reduce combined drills.
The name Freedom Edge combines words from the South Korea-U.S. exercise Freedom Shield and the U.S.-Japan exercise Keen Edge. It was the first multi-domain exercise involving the three countries, aimed at improving interoperability and safeguarding peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Korean Peninsula.
The three countries will carry out training in maritime missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, air defense and air operations, search and rescue, maritime interdiction and cyber defense, based on scenarios reflecting current threats and security conditions.
Freedom Edge, the first full-scale multi-domain exercise conducted jointly by the three countries, was first held in June 2024.
