SEOUL: The United States, Japan and South Korea on Tuesday activated a system to share North Korean missile warning data in real time, the South Korean defense ministry said.
According to media reports the three countries also jointly established a multiyear strategy for trilateral military exercise as agreed by their defense chiefs in s meeting in November as they seek to counter North Korea’s evolving missile and nuclear threats.
The ministry in a statement said the three countries established the system to detect and assess missiles launched by North Korea in real time to ensure the safety of their citizens.
The development comes just a day after North Korea launched a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the launch demonstrated the option that the North would take if Washington makes an incorrect decision.
President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a joint statement at their Phnom Penh summit in November last year first agreed to share the missile warning data in real time.
In August this year, the three leaders reiterated the efforts and agreed to operationalize the system by the end of the year at Camp David summit.
As the US has bilateral treaties with South Korea and Japan, there has not been a direct data link between the two neighboring states.
