As North Korean and Chinese threats rise, US looks to lock in defense partnerships with Asian allies

GIMHAE AIR BASE, South Korea — The United States completed its first multi-domain exercise with Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea on Saturday, a step forward in Washington’s efforts to strengthen and solidify its position. security partnerships with key Asian allies given the growing threat from North Korea and China.

The three-day Freedom Edge increased the sophistication of previous exercises with simultaneous air and naval exercises aimed at improving joint ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities.

The exercise, which is expected to expand in the coming years, was also aimed at improving the countries’ ability to share missile warnings — increasingly important as North Korea tests increasingly sophisticated systems.

Outside of Australia, Japan and South Korea are the only US partners in the region with militaries advanced enough to integrate their operations with those of the US. For example, if South Korea detects a target, the country can quickly provide details so Japanese or U.S. partners can respond, said Ridzwan Rahmat, a Singapore-based analyst at defense intelligence firm Janes.

“That’s the kind of interoperability that comes with a typical war scenario,” Rahmat said. “For these types of trilateral exercises, the aim is to develop interoperability between the three armed forces so that they can better fight as a cohesive force.”

Such exercises also carry the risk of increasing tensions, with China regularly denouncing exercises in what it sees as its sphere of influence, and North Korea decrying the arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier group at Busan Port, home to the South Korean Navy headquarters and Gimhae Air Base, in preparation for Freedom Edge as “provocative” and “dangerous.”

On Wednesday, the day after South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the Roosevelt in Busan, where he became the first sitting South Korean president to board a US aircraft carrier since 1994, North Korea tested It said it was a multi-warhead missile, the first known launch of the developmental weapon, if confirmed.

The South Korean military said a joint analysis by South Korean and US authorities showed the North Korean missile launch failed.

Defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea is also politically complex for both Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, due to lingering concerns over the Japanese Empire’s brutal occupation of Korea before and during World War II.

The two countries have the largest militaries of any U.S. allies in East Asia, and together they host some 80,000 U.S. troops on their soil, but the U.S. has tended to work with them individually rather than together because of their history .

Kishida’s increases in defense spending and cooperation with South Korea have been generally well received by the Japanese public but have caused friction with the right wing of his own party, while Yoon’s domestic appeal has weakened, but he has stayed the course.

“The change that South Korea has made under Yoon’s administration to improve relations with Japan has been extremely important,” said Heigo Sato, a professor of international politics and security expert at Takushoku University in Tokyo.

Both leaders are seen as trying to strengthen their defense ties with Washington ahead of the inauguration of a new president, with South Korean officials recently saying they hope to sign a formal security framework agreement with the US and Japan this year that would enshrine this . a joint approach to the response to a possible attack from North Korea.

US President Joe Biden’s administration has long been working to improve cooperation between South Korea and Japan. That was something many did not think possible at the start of his presidency, said Euan Graham, a defense analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“Credit where it is due – the fact that it is happening is a major achievement of the government’s regional policy,” he said.

Former US President Donald Trump caused friction with both allies during his time in office by demanding higher compensation for hosting US troops, while simultaneously holding personal meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Under Biden, Washington is seeking to strengthen its system of alliances, both with increasingly sophisticated exercises and diplomatic agreements, Graham said.

“It’s clearly an attempt by the US to try to fit their alliances together in the most positive way possible, not only given the challenge from their adversaries but also the uncertainty around a second Trump administration,” he said. “They’re trying to internalize as many of these cooperative habits as they can while they can.”

Tensions with North Korea are at their highest point in years, with the pace of Kim Jong Un’s weapons programs is increasingdespite heavy international sanctions.

China is now engaged in a massive military build-up of both nuclear and conventional weapons, and now has the largest navy in the world. The country claims both the self-governing island of Taiwan and virtually the entire South China Sea as its own territory, and has increasingly turned to its military to bolster those claims.

China and North Korea were also among Russia’s closest allies in the war against Ukraine, while Russia and China are also both key allies of North Korea, as well as Myanmar’s military leaders who seized power in 2021 and with increasingly fierce face resistance in that country’s civil war.

In Pyongyang this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim concluded a mutual defense pactagreeing to come to the aid of the other in case of an attack, upset others in the region.

Despite a larger number of ships overall, China still has only three aircraft carriers compared to the U.S. fleet’s 11—arguably the most effective tool a country has for projecting large amounts of power at great distances from home.

However, China’s advantage is that its main concern is the nearby waters of the Indo-Pacific, while Washington’s global focus means its naval assets widely spread. After the exercises in the East China Sea with Japan and South Korea, the Roosevelt due to departure to the Middle East to help protect ships against attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

That has made strong security partnerships all the more important, not only with Japan and South Korea, but also with Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan and others in the region. build these up has been a priority for the Biden administration.

“One of the weaknesses of the Chinese navy, despite the number of hulls they have compared to the Americans, is the fact that they do not have a network of friendly ports from which they can operate in case they have to launch a ship campaign,” Rahmat said.

“One of the strengths of the U.S. Navy is not only its ships and technology, but also its ability to call upon a vast network of friendly ports, and recognizing this strength, they are doubling down on partnerships across the region.”

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AP journalist Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this story from Tokyo.