By Ji Cheng
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(The author is from the Chinese PLA Academy of Military Sciences.)