SEOUL, South Korea, the United States and Japan on Tuesday launched a system to share North Korean missile warning data in real time, the defense ministry said, in the latest effort to bolster trilateral security cooperation against the North.
The three sides also jointly established a multiyear plan for trilateral military drills as agreed by their defense chiefs in a three-way meeting in November as they seek to better counter evolving North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
"The three countries established the system to detect and evaluate missiles launched by North Korea in real time to ensure the safety of their citizens and enhance related capabilities," the ministry said in a release.
The system's activation comes just a day after North Korea launched what it claimed to be a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the regime's fifth ICBM launch this year. Leader Kim Jong-un said the launch showed what option the North would take "when Washington makes a wrong decision."
This file photo, provided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Feb. 22, 2023, shows South Korea's ROKS Sejong the Great destroyer (front), the USS Barry destroyer (C), and Japan's JS Atago destroyer staging missile defense drills in the international waters of the East Sea.
Through the new system, the three sides will share round-the-clock data on a missile's presumed launch point, flight trajectory and expected point of impact, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
It will not include other sensitive data that does not fall under missile warning data, such as signs of an imminent missile launch or the type and location of the detection assets.
"If an ICBM is launched for example, there are aspects that not all countries can catch simultaneously, while there are areas some can and others cannot," the official said. "(The system) will help close such gaps."
While the United States has operated a data sharing system with South Korea and Japan separately, there had not been a direct data linkage between the two Asian neighbors that have long been in conflict over territory and other historical disputes stemming from Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45.
As part of efforts to better respond to North Korean missile threats, President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to share the missile warning data in real time in a joint statement at their Phnom Penh summit in November last year.
In August this year, the three leaders also agreed to operationalize the system by the end of this year and hold "annual, named, multi-domain" trilateral exercises on a regular basis to enhance cooperation at their Camp David summit.
The defense official said the data-sharing system underwent final inspections last week, noting that the system was utilized for the Monday ICBM launch and the shared data is currently being analyzed by the South Korean military.
The ministry said the three countries have also approved the multiyear exercise plan, starting next year, noting that they plan to regularize military drills and stage them in a more systematic and efficient manner.
The defense official said the plan runs over two years and includes regularly staging maritime missile defense drills and anti-submarine training, adding that it will be updated annually.
"Today's progress in cooperation ... will advance a new era of South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation," the ministry said. "The three countries will continue to strengthen trilateral cooperation to respond to regional challenges and ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Korean Peninsula, and beyond."
Source: Yonhap News Agency