S. Korea, U.S., Japan stage joint air drills in 1st 3-way exercise under Lee gov’t

South Korea, the United States and Japan held combined air drills Wednesday in an effort to strengthen their trilateral security cooperation against North Korean threats, the South’s Air Force said.

It marked the first joint air exercise among the three countries since President Lee Jae Myung took office earlier this month. The three countries last conducted joint air drills, involving two U.S. B-1B bombers, on Jan. 15.

Wednesday’s air exercise, which took place over waters off the southern island of Jeju, involved two South Korean F-15K fighter jets, six U.S. F-16 fighters and two Japanese F-2 fighters, according to the Air Force.

“The drills were conducted to bolster South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation to deter North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threats and maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,” it said.

The Air Force said it plans to continue to conduct such trilateral drills on the back of a firm South Korea-U.S. alliance.

The latest exercise came a day after Russia said North Korea has promised to send thousands of military construction workers and sappers to the western Russian region of Kursk to help reconstruction efforts amid their deepening military alignment.