The U.S., South Korea and Japan kicked off their second large-scale military exercise of the year on Wednesday, with an American aircraft carrier joining the drills to deter and respond to North Korean threats.

The multi-domain Freedom Edge drill is scheduled to run through Friday in waters south of the ROK’s Jeju Island, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

It follows the three countries’ first Freedom Edge exercise in June, in line with their efforts to bolster military cooperation under agreements reached at their Camp David Summit in Aug. 2023.

“The three nations strongly condemn North