US, South Korea, Japan launch 5-day multi-domain exercise; Joint Chiefs calls it 'defensive in nature'

South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Kim Ji-hoon (right), US Forces Japan Commander Lt. Gen. Steven Jost (center) and Japan Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Ishimaki Yoshiyasu pose for a photo at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Freedom Edge exercise at Yokota Air Base in Japan on Monday. [Joint Chiefs of Staff]
South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Kim Ji-hoon (right), US Forces Japan Commander Lt. Gen. Steven Jost (center) and Japan Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Ishimaki Yoshiyasu pose for a photo at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Freedom Edge exercise at Yokota Air Base in Japan on Monday. [Joint Chiefs of Staff]

North Korea strongly condemned the trilateral Freedom Edge military exercise involving the United States, South Korea and Japan, threatening a military countermeasure in response. Pyongyang claimed the three-way military cooperation has evolved into an aggressive entity incorporating nuclear elements and warned it would take forceful action.

North Korean Defense Minister Kim Song-gi issued a statement Monday, according to KCNA, saying the United States, Japan and South Korea were "once again carrying out the provocative trilateral multi-domain joint military exercise 'Freedom Edge' under the pretext of responding to what they call North Korea's 'nuclear and missile threat.'"

Kim said the US-Japan-South Korea triangular military cooperation framework "is mutating into a dangerous, aggressive entity accompanied by nuclear elements," and that "the reality of US-led war demonstrations being conducted in unbroken succession without any gap in time or space is a grave security threat driving the instability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond to a breaking point."

He then warned that "if the United States and its allies plot a new military confrontation with us, we will also take powerful and reflexive countermeasures from a position of strength."

Kim also asserted the legitimacy of North Korea's arms buildup and retaliatory measures. He said "the most accurate method for firmly controlling the ever-materializing and growing risk of collision and safeguarding the state's sovereignty and security interests is the continuous application of evolved new response capabilities." He added that "it is a consistent military activity principle of the republic's armed forces to never hesitate in the slightest in fulfilling its constitutional duty to deter hostile forces that threaten national security and punish provocateurs."

He went on to say the statement served as "a warning bell against the reckless military provocations of the United States and its follower states, which are creating a worrying possibility of military confrontation and conflict in the Korean Peninsula region," and that "if necessary, we will demonstrate our will and capability to respond to the enemies' provocations through stronger and more resolute action."

The three countries launched the Freedom Edge exercise Monday for a five-day run. The drill links multi-domain operations across maritime, air, cyber and other domains, and was regularized following the agreement reached at the Camp David trilateral summit in August 2023.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff described the exercise as "a defensive training conducted to enhance deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and to safeguard peace and stability in the region."


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