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China-South Korea relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Was the US-South Korea-Japan drill just about North Korea? China might beg to differ

  • Beijing will feel ‘inconvenient’ as Washington steps up trilateral military cooperation to stem Pyongyang threats, expert says
  • But North Korea’s ‘pariah status’ will keep relations with China ‘constrained’, according to analysts

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A US Navy F-18 waits on the flight deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier on Thursday during joint naval exercise with Japanese and South Korean forces in the East China Sea. Photo: AP
Seong Hyeon Choi
Washington’s military cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo may be targeted mainly at North Korea but is also likely to unnerve China, adding impetus to the “transactional” relations between Beijing and Pyongyang, according to analysts.
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Last week, South Korea’s navy said it had conducted joint naval drills with the United States and Japan in international waters south of Jeju Island to “improve joint operability against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats”.

The exercise involved six warships – the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, three Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, and two Aegis destroyers from South Korea and Japan.

“This training was conducted to implement a multi-year trilateral training plan jointly established by the defence authorities of [South] Korea, the United States and Japan in accordance with the Camp David Agreement last year,” the South Korean defence ministry said.

The South Korean navy said the forces focused on anti-submarine warfare training and on the ability to respond to North Korean underwater threats, such as submarines and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

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