This handout photo taken on July 11, 2025 and provided by South Korean Defence Ministry shows US Air Force B-52H bombers (C), South Korean Air Force KF-16 fighter jets (L) and Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets (R) flying in formation during a joint air drill over international waters off South Korea's southern island of Jeju. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP)
Seoul: South Korea, the United States and Japan held combined air drills on Friday as part of efforts to strengthen their regional deterrence.
The exercise took place over international waters off the southern South Korean island of Jeju and involved at least one US B-52H bomber as well as the South's KF-16 and Japan's F-2 fighters, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry. It marked the strategic bomber's first deployment near the Korean Peninsula this year.
"Based on close coordination, the three countries will cooperate to jointly deter and respond to North Korea's threats while continuing with three-way training," the ministry said in a release, cited by Yonhap News Agency.
The exercise came as the top military officers of the three countries convened in Seoul for a regular meeting to discuss the security situation and ways to strengthen their trilateral security cooperation.
It came less than a month after South Korea, the US and Japan conducted joint aerial drills on June 18, in what marked the first such exercise held under the Lee Jae Myung government.
