By Ji Cheng
季 澄
The US, Japan, and the ROK have been conducting a series of bilateral and trilateral joint military exercises intensively for some time, including the US-ROK Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise, the US-Japan Resolute Dragon 25 military exercise, the US-ROK Iron Mace military exercise, and the US-Japan-ROK Freedom Edge military exercise. While most of these exercises are presented as routine, they have gone beyond the scope of traditional military cooperation and are evolving into a key tool for external powers to disrupt regional security. Meanwhile, these exercises are showing signs of multidimensional escalation.
一段时间以来，美国、日本、韩国密集举行多场双边和三边联合军事演习，包括美韩“乙支自由之盾”演习、美日“坚毅之龙2025”演习、美韩“钉锤”演习和美日韩“自由之刃”演习等。这些军演虽然大都是例行演习，但已突破传统军事合作范围，正在演变为域外势力搅动地区安全局势的重要工具，同时相关演习也呈现出多维度升级态势。
The exercises have grown in frequency, scale, and scope, covering broader domains. In June last year, the US, Japan, and the ROK held the first trilateral exercise codenamed Freedom Edge, which was followed by two more rounds in November last year and September this year. In less than a year and a half, the same series of exercises has been conducted three times. A similar pattern exists with the US-ROK Iron Mace nuclear operations exercise, which was first held in August last year and then conducted again in April and September this year. Notably, these exercises have expanded in size, operational scope, and geographic coverage. From September 11 to 25 this year, the US and Japan held Resolute Dragon 25 military exercise, involving approximately 19,000 personnel, spanning strategic areas including Kyushu, Hokkaido, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima. Unlike previous trilateral exercises that were generally confined to maritime and air domains, this year's Freedom Edge exercise incorporated cyber defense for the first time, aiming to build multi-domain integration and cross-domain joint operational capabilities.
演习频次更高、规模更大、覆盖范围和领域更广。美日韩去年6月首次启动代号“自由之刃”的联合军演，随后又于去年11月和今年9月举行了两轮“自由之刃”演习。不到一年半时间，就举行3次同一系列的演习。类似的还有代号为“钉锤”的美韩核作战演习，去年8月举行第一次后，今年4月和9月又分别举行了1次。需要指出的是，这些演习在规模、作战领域和地理范畴上都有所扩大。美日于9月11日至25日举行的“坚毅之龙2025”联合军演，双方参演总兵力约1.9万人，范围覆盖九州、北海道、冲绳、硫磺岛等战略要地。与以往三国军演通常只在海空领域举行不同，今年的“自由之刃”演习首次纳入网络防御相关的内容，致力于打造多域融合与跨域协同作战能力。
The exercises have taken on greater strategic intent, designed to be closer to actual combat. To highlight the comprehensive, combat-oriented nature of the exercise, Freedom Edge has included training modules such as air and missile defense, maritime interception, landing operations, and logistical support. During the Resolute Dragon 25 exercise, the US deployed its Typhon medium-range missile system in Japan for the first time, aiming to test the ability of the US and its allies to transition rapidly from peacetime to wartime readiness.
演习的指向性更强、实战化程度更高。为凸显演习的全要素实战化程度，“自由之刃”演习涵盖防空反导、海上拦截、登陆作战、后勤支援等课目。在“坚毅之龙2025”演习中，美国首次在日本部署 “堤丰”中程导弹系统，以检验美国及其盟友军事力量由平时向战时快速转换的能力。
New combat capabilities are being deeply integrated, with artificial intelligence systems incorporated into the exercises. During the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, the US and the ROK tested capabilities such as space situational awareness and wartime network operations and offensive cyber denial, advancing the integration of space and cyber combat forces into the joint operational chain. For the first time, the self-developed generative AI system of the ROK was deployed for data analysis and situational assessment. During the Freedom Edge exercise, participating forces incorporated cyber warfare units for the first time, focusing on command system protection and offensive and defensive cyber operations capabilities.
新型作战力量深度嵌入，人工智能系统投入演习。在“乙支自由之盾”演习中，美韩借测试太空态势感知、战时网络运维与渗透毁瘫等能力，推动太空和网络作战力量融入联合作战链路，并首次引入韩国自主开发的生成式人工智能系统进行数据分析和态势研判。在“自由之刃”演习中，参演方首次纳入网络作战单元，重点演练指控系统防护与网络攻防能力。
Behind these intensive military exercises, the US, Japan, and the ROK each harbor their own calculations. The US, by strengthening defense cooperation with Japan and the ROK, intends to shape them into a forward strategic front in great-power competition, making them bear more security costs and responsibilities, and using this as a "model" to draw more regional allies into the framework of its so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy. For the ROK, after the new government came to power, it advocates a pragmatic foreign policy guided by national interest. While maintaining the US-ROK alliance as its foundation, it focuses on improving ROK-Japan relations and strengthening trilateral cooperation, meaning that in the short term, its security reliance on the US is likely to continue. Japan, amid domestic political turmoil and increasing uncertainty over its future direction, persists in acting as expendable pawns of the US on the front line, seeking to circumvent the restrictions of its pacifist constitution in order to pave the way for overseas operations by the Self-Defense Forces and to develop offensive military capabilities.
密集军演的背后，美日韩各自都有“小算盘”。美国通过强化与日韩防务合作，意图将其塑造为战略竞争前沿阵地，让日韩承担更多安全成本与责任义务，并以此为“范本”将更多地区盟友拉入其“印太战略”框架。对韩国来说，新政府上台后，倡导“以国家利益为中心的实用主义”外交路线，仍以美韩同盟为基础，以改善韩日关系、强化美日韩三边合作为重点，短期内对美国的“安全倚重”仍将延续。日本则在国内政局动荡、未来走向不确定性增加的背景下，仍执意充当美国“马前卒”，试图突破和平宪法限制，为自卫队海外行动铺路并发展进攻性军事力量。
At present, the US, Japan, and the ROK deliberately exaggerate and stir up perceived threats from other countries, using joint military exercises to strengthen bilateral and trilateral ties. This, however, cannot obscure their true intention to build an exclusive small circle and will instead heighten the risk of bloc-based confrontation in the regional security landscape. Such developments deserve close attention from regional countries.
当前，美日韩刻意渲染鼓噪他国威胁，通过联合军演强化双边和三边关系，非但无法掩盖其构建排他性“小圈子”的真实图谋，反而会加剧地区安全格局的阵营化对抗风险，其动向值得地区国家高度警惕。
(The author is from the Chinese PLA Academy of Military Sciences.)
（作者单位：军事科学院）