South Korea, Japan, US to start joint naval drill

Seoul, April 3 (IANS) South Korea, Japan and the US will conduct a joint naval manoeuver, starting on Monday, to prepare against North Korea's growing submarine threats, a South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed.The three-day naval manoeuver will be held in waters near the South Korean island of Jeju with a focus on securing an "effective" response to North Korea's threatening submarine program, especially the development of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), Efe news reported.

The South Korean Navy will dispatch the 4,500-ton Kang Gam Chan destroyer and a Lynx helicopter while the US Navy has sent the USS McCampbell equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defence system, an MH-60 anti-submarine chopper and an P-3 Orion patrol aircraft.Japan's Sawajiri destroyer will also join the drill and will be in charge of locating, detecting and following a fake North Korean submarine and exchanging relevant data during the drill.

This is the first time the three allies will carry out a simulation like this, since they discussed the matter in the trilateral defence forum in December 2016.Ever since North Korea increased its SLBM trials in 2015, the Pyongyang regime has shown advancement in the field following two seemingly successful launches in 2016.

The trilateral naval manoeuvers will be held alongside the current largest-ever annual military drill by South Korea and the US, conducted on South Korean territory in response to numerous weapon tests carried out by North Korea since 2016.North Korea was expected to carry out further nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles tests in response to the drills.