Takeshima Day at Center of Friction over South Korea-U.S. Military Drills

U.S. Proposal for South Korea-U.S.-Japan Air Exercise Rejected by South Korea on Proposed Date
Only U.S.-Japan Air Exercises Conducted... South Korea-U.S. Combined Exercises Also Under Coordination

It has been confirmed that there was friction between South Korea and the United States after a planned South Korea-U.S.-Japan air exercise was initially scheduled to take place just before Japan's so-called "Takeshima Day." The United States proposed a South Korea-U.S.-Japan air exercise, but South Korea expressed reluctance and suggested a different timing and format. In the end, a U.S.-only exercise and a U.S.-Japan joint exercise without South Korea were conducted instead.

A K1E1 tank is crossing a 180-meter-long joint pontoon bridge during the ROK-US combined arms river-crossing exercise held at the Seogeunso Training Ground near the Imjin River in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Joint Press Corps

The United States proposed the South Korea-U.S.-Japan air exercise on January 15. The schedule proposed at that time overlapped with the Lunar New Year holiday (February 15 to 18) and was also close to February 22, "Takeshima Day," which was established by Shimane Prefecture in Japan as it claims sovereignty over Dokdo.

In response, the Ministry of National Defense reportedly made a counterproposal to the United States: either to move the schedule up so that there would be a significant gap from "Takeshima Day" and conduct a trilateral exercise among South Korea, the United States, and Japan, or to have only South Korea and the United States conduct the exercise after "Takeshima Day."

The United States rejected these proposals. It is reported to have notified the South Korean side on February 5 that "this time, the exercise will be conducted by the United States alone." Subsequently, U.S. Forces Korea conducted a standalone exercise over the West Sea on February 18. However, it has not been confirmed whether this exercise was the unilateral exercise mentioned by the U.S. side. The United States also conducted joint exercises with Japan over Japanese waters and in the East China Sea airspace on February 16 and 18.

However, on February 23 the Ministry of National Defense stated, "The U.S.-Japan bilateral exercise is unrelated to the trilateral combined exercise in the context of South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation," adding, "South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation will be implemented in a stable manner based on close coordination among the three countries." The position of the ministry is that South Korea-U.S.-Japan joint exercises can be conducted at any time in the future, once the timing and format are adjusted.

Meanwhile, South Korea's military authorities also announced that they are coordinating matters related to the "Freedom Shield" (FS) exercise. They added that South Korea-U.S. combined exercises, including field training exercises (FTX), will be carried out in a balanced and dispersed manner throughout the year, as in previous years.

At a regular briefing, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Jang Doyoung said, "South Korea and the United States are in close consultation regarding the FS exercise, and once the consultations are completed, we will inform you at an appropriate time about the timing, scale, and method." Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Jeong Bitna also explained, "The FS exercise scheduled for March will proceed as normal," adding, "This exercise will focus on verifying the Full Operational Capability of the Future Combined Forces Command for the transfer of wartime operational control within the term of our current administration."