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This Week in AsiaPolitics

US-led drills edge Japan and South Korea closer on defence

Command roles at Rimpac show Tokyo and Seoul can work together militarily, but history caps how far ties can go

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A team is seen at mission control console inside a South Korean maritime patrol aircraft during a joint exercise as part of the 2026 Rimpac exercise near Honolulu. Photo: The Korea Times
US marines take part in an evacuation operation during the 2026 Rimpac exercise in Hawaii on July 24. Photo: AFP
Flight deck crew move a fuel tank onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt as the aircraft carrier participates in the Rimpac exercise in waters south of the Hawaiian Islands on July 13. Photo: Reuters
Sam Beltran
Japan and South Korea’s prominent roles in this year’s US-led Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) military exercises have fuelled speculation over whether the two neighbours might set aside their historical grievances and deepen defence cooperation.

Held in waters off Hawaii, this year’s Rimpac is the world’s largest maritime exercise, involving 30 nations, more than 30,000 troops and an armada of aircraft, surface ships and submarines.

Running from June 24 to July 31, the exercise saw South Korean Rear Admiral In-ho Kim serve as the commander of the combined forces maritime component, while Japanese Rear Admiral Takuo Kobayashi acted as vice-commander of the combined task force.

“For Rimpac 2026, what stood out is how quickly this multinational force integrated,” US Vice Admiral Jeffrey Jablon, commander of the combined task force, said at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday.

He added that a leadership structure that included Chile, South Korea, Canada and Japan in key command roles had allowed the force to operate as a “cohesive, capable team from day one”.

South Korea and Japan’s involvement in Rimpac comes even as the two US allies continue to disagree and occasionally clash over their difficult history from 1910 to 1945, when Tokyo colonised the Korean peninsula.

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