Japan, US hold joint drills over Sea of Japan in response to North Korea's ICBM launch - South Korean report

The US military and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces conducted joint training over the Sea of Japan on the 31st, Yonhap News reported. According to the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, which is the equivalent of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, the tactical training on the same day
Four US F-16 fighter jets and four Air Self-Defense Force F-35 and F-2 fighter jets participated in the exercise. The Joint Staff Office said, "The training took place amid an increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan," and "Through the exercise,
"The exercise confirmed the readiness of the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military to respond, and further strengthened the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance," the Ministry of Defense said. Kyodo News reported that the exercise was "targeted at a specific country.
However, analysts said the move could be seen as an attempt to check North Korea, which launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the same day.
North Korea launched an ICBM at a high angle around 7:10 a.m. on the same day in the Pyongyang area. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea had launched a new solid-fuel missile.
They are assessing the possibility that North Korea may have launched a charged ICBM and are also analyzing whether the recently unveiled 12-axis mobile launcher (TEL) was used.