SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s military on Wednesday said it will hold a three-day joint exercise with the United States and Japan starting, featuring fighter jets and marine patrol aircraft as well as the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
The exercise will include South Korean and Japanese fighter jets and maritime patrol aircraft, as well as the USS George Washington, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
The trilateral exercise follows a first round held earlier this year after the leaders of the three countries agreed at a summit in 2023 to hold annual training drills.
Pyongyang has long condemned joint drills between South Korea and the United States, calling them a rehearsal for invasion.
The trilateral exercise will also include maritime missile defense training and cyber defense training, according to the JCS.
In a statement on Tuesday, the U.S. Air Force said it would retire its A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft in key regions including South Korea in the fiscal year 2025 as part of its modernization strategy.
The aircraft, nicknamed “The Warthog”, was developed for the U.S. Air Force by the Fairchild Republic Company, which is now part of Northrop Grumman, according to the U.S. defense company’s website.