South Korea, US, Japan hold trilateral tabletop exercise against NK threats

U.S. acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Cara Abercrombie, left, South Korea's Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Cho Chang-rae, center, and Japan Director General for Defense Policy Taro Yamato pose at the 15th Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) in Seoul, in this photo provided by the defense ministry Sept. 10, 20224. Yonhap

Defense officials from South Korea, the United States and Japan held a discussion-based exercise against North Korean military threats earlier this week and vowed to continue their security cooperation, Seoul's defense ministry said Thursday.

A tabletop exercise and a working group meeting organized in conjunction with their Defense Trilateral Talks (DTT) took place in Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the ministry.

It marked the first time in five years the DTT-linked tabletop exercise has taken place.

"The three sides pledged to continue to maintain the momentum of trilateral security cooperation," they said in a joint statement, without providing further details.

Seoul's defense ministry assessed the latest gathering shows the "unwavering" nature of trilateral security cooperation between the three nations under the U.S. Trump administration.

The three nations held the 15th round of the DTT in Seoul in September last year and reaffirmed their commitment to trilateral security cooperation.