(LEAD) Top generals of S. Korea, U.S., Japan agree to expand trilateral Freedom Edge exercise

The top generals of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed Thursday to expand their trilateral multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise as they discussed North Korea's evolving threats and deepening military alignment with Russia, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo, and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, respectively, reached the agreement during their regular talks in Tokyo earlier in the day, according to the JCS. "The Tri-CHOD leaders affirmed their commitment to expanding the Freedom Edge exercise and discussed additional ways to institutionalize trilateral cooperation in support of a shared regional vision for peace, stability, and deterrence," the JCS said in an English-language statement. The three countries conducted the trilateral exercise for the first time in late June, mobilizing various warships and aircraft from the three sides, including the U.S. Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carri er, the South's ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong destroyer and Japan's JS Ise helicopter destroyer. In the meeting, the top generals condemned North Korea's continued nuclear and missile developments and its growing military cooperation with Russia as a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the JCS. Brown also reaffirmed his country's "ironclad" commitment to defending South Korea and Japan, and the three concurred their trilateral security cooperation is crucial not only for peace and security of the Indo-Pacific but also for shared global interests, it added. Thursday's meeting came amid concerns over Pyongyang and Moscow's increasing military cooperation, underscored by a "comprehensive strategic partnership" agreement inked during their summit in Pyongyang last month. The meeting was also attended by Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, and Lt. Gen. Ricky N. Rupp, commander of U.S. Forces Japan. Source: Yonhap News Agency