South Korea holds war games to defend against Japan
South Korea began two days of war games on 18 June to practice defending the disputed Dokdo islands off its east coast against an unlikely attack by Japan.
The drills come just days after US President Donald Trump announced the suspension of long-running US joint exercises with South Korea – aimed at deterring North Korea – calling them expensive and ‘provocative’.
The two-day exercise – tiny compared with the suspended US-South Korea war games – will involve six warships and seven aircraft and had begun, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said.
A unit of marines will land on the largely barren rocky islets, inhabited by around 40 people – mostly police officers.
Choi Hyun-soo, a spokeswoman at South Korea’s MND, said: ‘The Dokdo defence drill is a routine training conducted to prevent an invasion from external forces.’
Tokyo reacted angrily to the ‘extremely deplorable’ drills, with the foreign ministry saying it had ‘strongly protested’ via the usual diplomatic channels.
It said the exercises were ‘absolutely unacceptable’ and strongly demanded their suspension.
While an attack from Japan is deemed highly unlikely, South Korea first staged the drills in 1986 and has conducted them twice a year since 2003.
Seoul has controlled the islets in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) since the end in 1945 of Japan's 35-year colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.
Tokyo also claims the islands, known as Takeshima in Japan, and accuses Seoul of occupying them illegally.
South Korea and Japan are both market economies, democracies and US allies and both are threatened by nuclear-armed North Korea, but their relationship is severely strained by historical and territorial issues.
The two neighbours also have a long-running feud over Japan's use of Korean women as wartime sex slaves, despite an agreement in 2015 to settle the issue.
More from Defence Notes
-
![Singapore Airshow 2026: ST Engineering hints at export success for AME assault rifle family]()
Singapore Airshow 2026: ST Engineering hints at export success for AME assault rifle family
The Singapore-based technology company unveiled its new rifle family at this week’s airshow. Chen Chuanren spoke with the ST Engineering’s head of small arms to find out more about how the weapons have been refined.
-
![High tension in the High North – a wake-up call for NATO’s future Arctic defence efforts?]()
High tension in the High North – a wake-up call for NATO’s future Arctic defence efforts?
Any potential ‘Arctic Sentry’ mission would be months in the planning, but with tensions high in the region given the US’s push for Greenland, NATO countries will need to continue to emphasise their commitment to the region, analysts have said.
-
![Venezuela prepares personnel and equipment for a potential second US attack]()
Venezuela prepares personnel and equipment for a potential second US attack
Defence Minister Gen Vladimir Padrino López has declared that the Venezuelan armed forces “will continue to employ all its available capabilities for military defence”.
-
![As the new year starts, the UK defence spending delay continues]()
As the new year starts, the UK defence spending delay continues
The UK’s defence spending commitments remain uncertain as the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which had been due by the end of 2025, is yet to be published.
-
![How might European countries look to tackle drone incursions?]()
How might European countries look to tackle drone incursions?
Disruption of infrastructure in Europe, whether by cyberattack, physical damage to pipelines or uncrewed aerial vehicles flying over major airports, as has happened more recently, is on the rise. What is the most effective way of countering the aerial aspect of this not-so-open warfare?
-
![Taiwan approved for $11 billion weapon purchase from US]()
Taiwan approved for $11 billion weapon purchase from US
The US State Department’s approval of a multi-billion-dollar sale of weapons to Taiwan includes tactical mission networks equipment, uncrewed aerial systems, artillery rocket systems and self-propelled howitzers as well as anti-tank guided missiles.
