The three nations are scheduled to hold joint military exercises with South Korea, Japan and the United States will take place Sept. 9-11. Named “Freedom Edge,” the defensive training aims to assess allied readiness in the face of North Korea’s growing missile and nuclear arms capabilities.

The trilateral drills will be conducted in international waters to the south and east of the southern South Korean island of Jeju. The coming drills were officially acknowledged in a statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In order to integrate these activities, there are close coordination activities between the representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Ministry of Defense, Japan, in view of the security threats found in the region.

The trilateral announcement comes at the same time that America is changing its bilateral military stance. The White House recently reduced one of its big drills with South Korea and also canceled a planned joint drill with South Korea’s Marine Corps next month.

As for the military cancellations, President Donald Trump has said that South Korea’s decision not to help in the current Iran row was one of the reasons. Also, he said, the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises with South Korea’s Armed Forces this month were the wrong diplomatic signal to Pyongyang.’

The Ministry of National Defense and its international allies are still focusing on regional defense even with a diminished amount of bilateral exercises. As a result, President Trump is aggressively making an effort to set up a new summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, building on talks they had in 2018 and 2019.

Despite the reduction in some bilateral exercises, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and its international allies continue to prioritize regional defense. Simultaneously, President Trump is actively attempting to arrange a new summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, hoping to build upon their previous meetings held in 2018 and 2019.