Japan angry as South Korea holds war games to defend against ‘island attack’
Drills come just days after US President Donald Trump announced the suspension of long-running US joint exercises with South Korea – aimed at deterring North Korea
South Korea on Monday began two days of war games to practise defending the disputed Dokdo islands off its east coast – against an unlikely attack by Japan.
The drills come just days after US President Donald Trump announced the suspension of long-running US joint exercises with South Korea – aimed at deterring North Korea – calling them expensive and “provocative”.
The two-day exercise – tiny compared with the suspended US-South Korea war games – will involve six warships and seven aircraft and had begun, Seoul’s defence ministry said.
A unit of marines will land on the largely barren rocky islets, inhabited by around 40 people – mostly police officers.
“The Dokdo defence drill is a routine training conducted to prevent an invasion from external forces,” said Choi Hyun-soo, a spokeswoman at Seoul’s defence ministry.
