Seoul: South Korea, the United States, and Japan are set to conduct a trilateral military exercise off South Korea's southern coast early next month, as announced by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Friday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise is scheduled to take place from September 7-11 in international waters east and south of Jeju Island. The JCS issued a message to the media detailing the exercise's scope and purpose.

The JCS emphasized that the exercise is defensive in nature, conducted annually by the three nations. It aims to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and to safeguard regional peace and stability.