The United States, Japan and South Korea will hold a new round of the Freedom Edge military exercise from 9 to 11 September in international waters south and east of South Korea’s Jeju Island. The drills will test the three countries’ ability to respond jointly to North Korea’s expanding nuclear and missile capabilities.
The forthcoming exercise is significant not only because of its military scale. It will also take place at a sensitive diplomatic moment, as US President Donald Trump seeks to reopen direct dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while simultaneously maintaining Washington’s security commitments to Seoul and Tokyo.
Freedom Edge has gradually evolved into the central military component of trilateral cooperation among the United States and its two leading Northeast Asian allies. The September exercise will be the fourth iteration of the drills since their launch in 2024.
From Camp David to the East China Sea
Freedom Edge emerged from the August 2023 Camp David summit, where the leaders of the United States, South Korea and Japan agreed to deepen security cooperation and conduct regular multi-domain military exercises.
The name itself combines two established bilateral exercises: Freedom Shield, conducted by the United States and South Korea, and Keen Edge, held by the United States and Japan. This symbolism reflects the main purpose of the initiative — bringing two separate American alliance structures together within a single operational framework.
The first Freedom Edge exercise was conducted from 27 to 29 June 2024 in the East China Sea, including waters south of Jeju Island. It involved naval vessels, fighter aircraft, maritime patrol planes and helicopters from all three countries.
The US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt led a powerful American naval group that included the destroyers USS Halsey, USS Daniel Inouye and USS Higgins. Japan deployed the helicopter carrier JS Ise, the Aegis-equipped destroyer JS Atago and P-1 maritime patrol aircraft. South Korea contributed the destroyers ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong and ROKS Kang Gam-chan, P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and KF-16 fighters.
The participating forces practised ballistic missile defence, air defence, anti-submarine warfare, maritime interdiction, search-and-rescue operations and cyber defence. The inaugural exercise demonstrated that the three countries intended to move beyond political declarations and develop the ability to conduct coordinated military operations.
Source: Reuters
The second round: Approximately 7,000 personnel
The second Freedom Edge exercise took place from 13 to 15 November 2024, again in the East China Sea near the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
This iteration was larger and more technologically sophisticated. According to the US Indo-Pacific Command, approximately 7,000 military personnel, seven ships and more than 20 fighter jets, patrol aircraft and aerial tankers participated.
The centrepiece was the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington. The United States also deployed several destroyers, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, F-35 and F/A-18 fighters and KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft.
Japan contributed the destroyer JS Haguro, P-3 patrol aircraft, F-15 and F-2 fighters and an E-767 airborne early warning aircraft. South Korea deployed two destroyers, P-3 patrol aircraft, F-35A stealth fighters and F-15K aircraft.
The inclusion of fifth-generation F-35 fighters allowed the three countries to test how stealth aircraft could operate within a combined air and missile defence network. The exercise also covered anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine operations, maritime interdiction and defensive cyber activities.
The second round was held shortly after North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. It also coincided with growing security cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, including North Korean military assistance to Russia.
Freedom Edge 2025: From missile defence to special operations
The third iteration, Freedom Edge 25, was conducted from 15 to 19 September 2025 in the East China Sea and international waters near Jeju Island.
Unlike the first two rounds, the 2025 exercise did not involve a US carrier strike group. Nevertheless, it was broader in terms of the missions practised and lasted five days rather than three.
The participants integrated naval and air training with cyber warfare and special operations capabilities. Their missions included:
ballistic missile defence;
defensive counter-air operations;
anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare;
maritime interdiction;
boarding and inspecting suspicious vessels;
counter-piracy operations;
medical evacuation;
replenishment at sea;
cyber defence and information sharing.
One particularly important element was a trilateral medical evacuation exercise. A casualty was transferred from a South Korean warship to a Japanese helicopter destroyer and treated by a joint Japanese-American medical team. Such an operation may appear less dramatic than a missile interception, but it demonstrated the ability of the three militaries to operate under common procedures during an actual crisis.
The 2025 drills also reflected a shift from largely symbolic trilateral manoeuvres towards a more integrated operational structure.
What will the 2026 exercise test?
Detailed information about all the forces participating in the September 2026 exercise has not yet been disclosed. However, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed that the drills will focus on preparedness against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
Based on previous iterations, several major objectives can be identified.
The first is ballistic-missile defence. North Korean missiles can approach South Korea and Japan along different trajectories and at different altitudes. A coordinated response requires American, Japanese and South Korean radar systems, satellites, Aegis-equipped warships and command centres to exchange information rapidly.
The three countries have already established a mechanism for sharing North Korean missile warning data in real time. Freedom Edge allows them to test whether this information can be turned into a coordinated operational response.
The second task is anti-submarine warfare. North Korea continues to develop submarine-launched ballistic missiles and vessels capable of carrying them. Detecting a submarine requires the coordinated use of surface ships, patrol aircraft, helicopters, sonar systems and intelligence assets. A submarine that escapes monitoring could potentially launch a missile with much less warning than a land-based system.
The third objective is integrated air defence. Fighters and warships from the three countries must be able to identify hostile aircraft and missiles without confusing allied platforms for potential targets. This requires compatible communications, common procedures and rapid information sharing.
Maritime interdiction is another important component. In the event of a crisis, the three countries may need to track, stop and inspect ships suspected of transporting weapons, missile components or sanctioned goods to or from North Korea.
Cyber defence is also becoming increasingly important. North Korea has developed sophisticated cyber capabilities and has been accused of using hacking operations to obtain intelligence, steal cryptocurrency and finance its weapons programmes. A modern military conflict on the Korean Peninsula would almost certainly include attacks against communications networks, financial systems and military infrastructure.
Source: Getty Images
Deterrence and diplomacy at the same time
The political timing of Freedom Edge 2026 makes the exercise particularly important. Trump has scaled back some bilateral military activities with South Korea and has argued that large exercises can send the wrong signal to Pyongyang. His administration is attempting to create conditions for another meeting with Kim Jong Un after their summits in Singapore in 2018, Hanoi in 2019 and their encounter at the Korean border later that year.
At the same time, Washington cannot suspend military cooperation without alarming South Korea and Japan. Both allies are concerned that direct US-North Korean negotiations could marginalise their security interests or lead to concessions that recognise North Korea as a nuclear state without reducing the actual threat.
Freedom Edge therefore represents a compromise between engagement and deterrence. Washington can reduce or adjust certain bilateral exercises as a diplomatic gesture while retaining a trilateral framework focused on missile defence and regional security.
Seoul has supported Trump’s attempt to resume talks but insists that negotiations must produce measurable progress on denuclearisation. Tokyo is similarly concerned about North Korean missiles capable of striking Japanese territory, as well as the unresolved issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.
Pyongyang, however, sees the exercises differently. North Korean officials routinely describe US-led drills as rehearsals for invasion and use them to justify further missile tests and military development. New exercises may therefore strengthen allied readiness while also giving North Korea a pretext to demonstrate additional weapons.
More than an exercise aimed at North Korea
Officially, Freedom Edge is defensive and principally directed at North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes. Its broader strategic implications, however, extend across the Indo-Pacific.
The drills increase interoperability among three of the region’s most advanced militaries and connect American forces based in Japan with those stationed in South Korea. The geographic location — international waters south and east of Jeju Island — provides access to the East China Sea and sea routes connecting the Korean Peninsula, Japan and the wider Western Pacific.
This means the capabilities tested during Freedom Edge could also be relevant in other regional contingencies, including disruptions to major shipping routes or a wider military confrontation in Northeast Asia.
The forthcoming drills will thus serve several purposes simultaneously: preparing for North Korean missile attacks, demonstrating the durability of US alliances and preserving trilateral military coordination during a renewed diplomatic opening.
Having been conducted three times — twice in 2024 and once in 2025 — Freedom Edge is no longer an experimental initiative. The September 2026 exercise will be its fourth iteration and another step towards turning American, Japanese and South Korean security cooperation into a permanent operational system.
By Samir Muradov