(MENAFN- IANS) Seoul, July 11 (IANS) South Korea, the United States and Japan held combined air drills Friday as part of efforts to strengthen their joint response against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the South's defence ministry said.

The exercise took place over international waters off the southern South Korean island of Jeju and involved at least one US B-52H bomber as well as the South's KF-16 and Japan's F-2 fighters, according to the ministry. It marked the strategic bomber's first deployment near the Korean Peninsula this year.

"Based on close coordination, the three countries will cooperate to jointly deter and respond to North Korea's threats while continuing with three-way training," it said in a release.

The exercise came as the top military officers of the three countries convened in Seoul for a regular meeting to discuss the security situation and ways to strengthen their trilateral security cooperation.

It came less than a month after South Korea, the US and Japan conducted joint aerial drills on June 18, in what marked the first such exercise held under the Lee Jae Myung government.

Earlier on June 15, South Korea, the United States and Japan held combined air drills Wednesday in an effort to strengthen their trilateral security cooperation against North Korean threats, the South's Air Force said.

It marked the first joint air exercise among the three countries since President Lee Jae Myung took office earlier this month, Yonhap news agency reported.

The Air Force said it plans to continue to conduct such trilateral drills on the back of a firm South Korea-US alliance.

Although the B-52s - considered a key US strategic asset - have previously been deployed over the Korean Peninsula for joint air drills with the South Korean Air Force, the first time the bomber landed at an air base in the country, on October 17, 2023.

MENAFN11072025000231011071ID1109788128