The United States is preparing to conduct a trilateral military exercise with South Korea and Japan, US Pacific Command said on Wednesday.
“In close coordination with the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, US Pacific Command is preparing for the 2026 iteration of exercise Freedom Edge,” command spokesperson Lieutenant Commander Chloe Morgan told Yonhap News Agency by email.
Morgan said the multi-domain exercise would strengthen interoperability and defence cooperation among the three countries but declined to disclose its timing, scope or scale.
Freedom Edge emerged from an August 2023 Camp David summit as part of efforts to institutionalise trilateral security cooperation. Previous iterations were held in June and November 2024 and September 2025.
Annual US-South Korea drills have been scaled back
Questions over this year’s exercise followed US President Donald Trump’s instruction on August 16 to scale back the bilateral Ulchi Freedom Shield drills with South Korea.
Trump said on the same day that large-scale exercises could send an “inappropriate and hostile” message to North Korea as he sought renewed dialogue with leader Kim Jong-un.
Pyongyang has rejected claims that the drills are defensive, describing them as rehearsals for an invasion and warning of intensified countermeasures.
