US, Pacific allies hold military drills amid North Korea threats

The United States, Canada, India, Japan and South Korea continued to strengthen their alliance by holding joint anti-submarine military drills. The drills, which began Wednesday, Mar. 15, were set to culminate in more than 270 hours of in-flight training. Hours after the drills began, the leaders of Japan and South Korea engaged in rare diplomatic talks to improve their relations in light of threats from North Korea and China.

This is a media miss story for right-leaning news outlets, as most sources reporting on the topic have been identified as left leaning by Ground.News.

The joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea are political, as the Trump Administration reduced them amid the former president’s nuclear talks with North Korea in 2018 and 2019. At the time, Trump called for exercises to stop, saying they were “provocative” to North Korea.

“Under the circumstances, that we’re negotiating…I think it’s inappropriate to be having war games,” former President Trump said. He also noted how expensive the drills were for the U.S.

Under President Joe Biden, military drills near North Korea resumed. North Korea has condemned such exercises in the past, launching missiles and threatening the use of nuclear weapons.