South Korean soldiers keep watch during a Freedom Shield drill in Dongducheon, South Korea, on March 13, 2025. (Jameson Harris/U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — U.S. Forces Korea rejected a South Korean request to reschedule a trilateral aerial exercise with Japan, according to local media reports, amid sensitivities over a Japanese holiday tied to disputed islands claimed by both countries.
Seoul asked that the training be moved because it conflicted with the Lunar New Year period from Feb. 15-18, and fell just ahead of Takeshima Day on Sunday, the Yonhap News Agency reported Monday.
South Korea and Japan have a long-running territorial dispute over the remote islets, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, about 150 miles east of the Korean Peninsula.
Yonhap, citing an unidentified source, reported the U.S. declined the request. The U.S. proceeded with drills involving Japanese forces on Feb. 16 and 18, and a solo USFK exercise on Feb. 18, the agency said.
The U.S.-Japan training was unrelated to the planned trilateral exercise, Chung Binna, a spokeswoman for South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, said at a Monday press briefing.
Chung expressed “deep regret” over media reports suggesting discord among the three countries.
“The report categorically portrays the usual consultation and coordination process between the allies as a matter of conflict or exclusion, which is an oversimplification of the facts,” she said.
U.S. and South Korean forces routinely coordinate on exercise planning, Chung said. The ministry “reaffirmed South Korea’s firm and stable commitment to the South Korea-U.S. alliance and trilateral security cooperation,” she said.
USFK spokesman David Kim declined to comment in an email to Stars and Stripes on Tuesday.
Joint U.S.-South Korea exercises, including field training, will be conducted in a balanced manner throughout the year to maintain readiness and enhance capabilities, the ministry said.
The U.S. and Japan are slated to begin the large-scale annual Freedom Shield exercise next month, without changes or reductions, Chung said.
The training will focus on verifying South Korea’s ability to assume wartime operational control of military forces on the peninsula, she said.
USFK and the ministry are still discussing the start date for Freedom Shield, South Korean air force spokesman Lt. Col. Jang Dong-ha said at a Monday briefing. An announcement had been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday but was not released, he said.
“We will provide the information in a timely manner after the discussion,” he said.
