Overview

• South Korea, the United States and Japan begin the annual Freedom Edge drills on Sept. 15 to bolster aerial, naval and cyber capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
• Freedom Edge will take place in international waters southeast of Jeju Island and involves multi-domain operations across air, sea and cyber.
• Separately, the U.S. and South Korea will run the Iron Mace tabletop exercise Monday through Friday at Camp Humphreys, focused on integrating U.S. nuclear assets with South Korea’s conventional forces.
• This Iron Mace iteration is the third since its launch under Nuclear Consultative Group guidelines and the first under Presidents Lee Jae Myung and Donald Trump.
• Kim Yo Jong cautioned the drills would bring unfavorable consequences for the participating countries, and senior official Pak Jong Chon warned of clearer, stronger countermeasures, while Seoul and Washington maintain the activities are defensive and note Pyongyang’s history of test responses.