Japan, US and South Korea set to hold ballistic missile drills

The United States, Japan and South Korea will hold missile tracking drills on Monday and Tuesday.

South Korean and US warplanes carry out bombing drills on December 6, 2017.

South Korean and US warplanes carry out bombing drills on December 6, 2017. Source: SOUTH KOREA DEFENSE MINISTRY

The United States, Japan and South Korea will hold two days of missile tracking drills this week as tensions rise in the region over North Korea's fast-developing weapons programs.

North Korea has fired two missiles over Japan as it pursues nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of UN sanctions and international condemnation.
On November 29, it test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile which it said was its most advanced yet, capable of reaching the mainland United States.

The exercises, on Monday and Tuesday, will be the sixth drill sharing information in tracking ballistic missiles among the three nations, the defence force said.

The United States and South Korea conducted large-scale military drills last week, which the North said have made the outbreak of war "an established fact".



Last month's missile test prompted a US warning that North Korea's leadership would be "utterly destroyed" if war were to break out.

The Pentagon has mounted repeated shows of force after North Korean tests.

North Korea regularly threatens to destroy South Korea, Japan and the United States and says its weapons programs are necessary to counter US aggression.


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