The United States, South Korea and Japan will conduct five days of joint military exercises near Jeju Island in September, maintaining a key trilateral defense initiative even after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in separate U.S.-South Korean drills.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The United States, South Korea and Japan will hold their annual Freedom Edge military exercises in international waters off South Korea next month, continuing trilateral training aimed at North Korean threats even as President Donald Trump scales back separate bilateral exercises with Seoul.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that the 2026 Freedom Edge exercise will run from Sept. 7 through Sept. 11 in waters east and south of Jeju Island, according to the Korea Times.
“The exercise is defensive in nature, which is held by the three nations annually to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and to safeguard regional peace and stability,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The Pentagon is coordinating preparations with the militaries of both Asian allies, Lt. Cmdr. Chloe Morgan, a spokesperson for U.S. Pacific Command, confirmed in an email to the Yonhap News Agency.
“In close coordination with the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, U.S. Pacific Command is preparing for the 2026 iteration of exercise Freedom Edge,” Morgan said, according to Yonhap. “This premier multi-domain exercise will continue to reinforce our shared values, enhance our shared interoperability and further strengthen our defense partnerships to ensure peace and stability throughout the Pacific.”
Morgan did not disclose additional operational details, including whether the September exercise will match the size and scope of earlier Freedom Edge drills conducted in June and November 2024 and September 2025.
The decision to proceed comes shortly after Trump ordered a significant reduction in the separate Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises conducted by the United States and South Korea.
Trump announced Aug. 16 that Washington would “substantially reduce” the exercises, pointing to their cost and his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The president said the bilateral drills conveyed a “totally inappropriate and hostile” message to Pyongyang as he renewed efforts to reopen direct dialogue with Kim.
A day later, Trump offered another explanation for the decision during remarks in the Oval Office, connecting his dissatisfaction with the scale of U.S.-South Korean military cooperation to Seoul’s refusal to assist Washington in the conflict with Iran.
“We have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbor, and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran,” Trump said. “That’s strange. … All I want is fairness.”
The United States and South Korea subsequently shortened Ulchi Freedom Shield by nearly half.
The exercise ended Friday rather than continuing through Aug. 27, and the allies also reduced field training. Some planned events were canceled, while others were converted to simulations.
The upcoming Freedom Edge exercise, however, involves a different framework by bringing Japan into the training alongside the United States and South Korea.
Freedom Edge emerged from the August 2023 Camp David summit involving the leaders of the three countries and has since developed into a central component of their trilateral security cooperation.
The drills are designed to improve the ability of American, South Korean and Japanese forces to operate together across multiple military domains while addressing common security threats in the region.
North Korea has repeatedly condemned U.S.-South Korean exercises, describing them as preparations for an invasion. Washington and Seoul have rejected that characterization and maintain that their exercises are defensive.
Which major American military assets will participate in the September Freedom Edge drills remains unclear.
The 2025 exercise marked the first time Freedom Edge proceeded without a U.S. aircraft carrier. At the time, American carrier strike groups had been deployed to the Middle East.
Pacific Command has not said whether an aircraft carrier or other major U.S. assets will participate this year.
The distinction between the reduced Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise and the continuing Freedom Edge drills highlights the administration’s differing approaches to bilateral and trilateral military cooperation in the region.
Trump has sought to reduce what he considers costly or unnecessarily provocative U.S.-South Korean exercises while simultaneously pursuing renewed talks with Kim.
At the same time, Washington is proceeding with the three-nation Freedom Edge framework established to strengthen coordination among the United States, South Korea and Japan against North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities.
Barring further changes, the three militaries will begin the five-day exercise Sept. 7, less than a month after Trump ordered the substantial reduction of Washington’s bilateral training with Seoul.
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