South Korea rejects joint drills with US, Japan
South Korea rejected US and Japanese proposal to conduct joint military exercises aimed at countering North Korea’s submarines, Sputnik News reports citing the Japanese media.
The drills were supposed to be conducted on the basis of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) signed by Tokyo and Seoul on November 23, 2016 to create the framework for both protection and sharing of secret military information. However South Korean side opposed the suggestion saying that it was not the right time for the drills.
As RIA Russian news agency reports Seoul has rejected to conduct joint military exercises to avoid the further deterioration of the relations with China which has concerns over the programs of deploying U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea.