Reuters
The United States, South Korea and Japan participated in a ballistic missile defense exercise off Hawaii's coast last week, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, reviving combined drills with an eye on North Korea as well as China. It was the first time the three countries have held such drills since 2017, after relations between Seoul and Tokyo hit their lowest in years in 2019 amid renewed historical disputes dating to Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative who took office in May, has vowed to improve relations with Japan and deepen the U.S. alliance to better deter North Korea, including by expanding or resuming joint drills.