South Korea, Japan and US to hold North Korea-focused nuclear missile drill

SEOUL, Aug 28 (Reuters) – South Korea, Japan and the United States will conduct joint military drills from September 9 to 11 to test readiness against North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons threats, South Korea said on Friday.

The annual Freedom Edge drills, which are defensive in nature, will be held in international waters to the south and east of the South Korean southern island of Jeju, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The trilateral exercise comes after U.S. President Donald Trump scaled back a major joint exercise with South Korea and then the U.S. subsequently cancelled a joint Marine Corps drill scheduled for next month.

Trump cited in part Seoul’s refusal to offer help in the Iran war and said the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills this month sent a wrong message to North Korea. Trump has been trying to hold a new summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The two met in 2018 and 2019.

(Reporting by Jack Kim, Heejin KimEditing by Ed Davies)