
The United States, Japan and South Korea said on Tuesday they activated a real-time North Korea missile warning data sharing mechanism and established a multi-year plan for trilateral exercises. Previously, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Japan Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru and South Korea Minister of National Defense Shin Wonsik agreed to finalize these initiatives by the end of the year during a November trilateral ministerial meeting. A Dec. 19 trilateral defense ministerial joint statement released by the U.S. Defense…