Seoul: The United States is preparing to conduct a trilateral military exercise with South Korea and Japan, the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) announced, signaling that the drills are progressing despite the recent reduction of a joint exercise between Seoul and Washington as directed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lt. Cmdr. Chloe Morgan, a spokesperson for PACOM, confirmed via email that the command is coordinating closely with the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Republic of Korea Armed Forces for the 2026 iteration of exercise Freedom Edge. Morgan emphasized that this multi-domain exercise aims to reinforce shared values, enhance interoperability, and strengthen defense partnerships to ensure peace and stability throughout the Pacific.
Morgan refrained from providing further details about the exercise, including whether this year's Freedom Edge will maintain the same scope and scale as previous drills conducted in June and November of 2024 and September of the previous year. The Freedom Edge exercise emerged as a key outcome from the trilateral Camp David summit held in August 2023, marking progress in institutionalizing security cooperation among the U.S. and its Asian allies.
There is significant attention on whether Freedom Edge will proceed as planned this year, given that Seoul and Washington have scaled back their bilateral Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise following Trump's directive to reduce the drills. Trump characterized the exercise as potentially sending an "inappropriate and hostile" message to North Korea while expressing his desire to resume dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
North Korea has consistently condemned the military drills involving South Korea and the U.S., labeling them as rehearsals for invasion and dismissing the allies' claims that they are defensive in nature. Kim Yo-jong, sister of the North Korean leader, described the drills as a "reckless show of strength" with negative implications for Seoul and Washington.
Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, criticized Freedom Edge last September as the "most offensive war drill for aggression," threatening to respond with intensified counteraction. The previous Freedom Edge drills were conducted in international waters off South Korea's southern island of Jeju.