US, South Korea and Japan flex missile-defense muscles after North’s latest ICBM test
By DAVID CHOI
STARS AND STRIPES • April 17, 2023
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The United States, South Korea and Japan rehearsed their seaborne missile defense in international waters on Monday, four days after North Korea launched another ballistic missile.
The guided-missile destroyers Yulgok Yi I, the USS Benfold and the JS Atago trained together in the Sea of Japan, or the East Sea, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said in a news release Monday. All three are equipped with the Aegis Combat System, shown capable in tests of intercepting ballistic missiles.
The drill included detecting and tracking simulated ballistic missiles and sharing that information between the ships, according to the ministry.
“This is an opportunity to boost [our] trilateral security cooperation against growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats … and to firm up our navy’s readiness posture and capabilities in responding to ballistic missiles,” South Korean navy Capt. Kim Ki Young, commander of the Yulgok Yi I, said in the release. “We will increasingly toughen our operational readiness posture through exercises that are nearly identical to actual battles.”
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2023-04-17/missile-defense-drills-north-korea-9826748.html
