South Korea wraps up its two-day maritime drill to defend the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo today.
The drill started on Sunday – only four days after Seoul decided to pull out of its bilateral intel-sharing pact with Japan.
The size of the armed forces is double that of previous drills.
As soon as the exercise wraps up Monday afternoon, the government is to review the time and scale of their second drill of this year.
The drills usually take place in June and December every year, but the first drill was delayed until now due to concerns that it could worsen Seoul's relationship with Tokyo.
Some say the next drill could be held earlier than usual as Japan could voice its claims over Dokdo.
The drills, which were usually named 'Dokdo defense drill', were named 'East Sea territory defense exercise' this year.
South Korea's presidential office says the annual maritime defense exercise in the East Sea—one of the largest ever held around the easternmost islets of Dokdo -- is a drill aimed at “guarding South Korea's sovereignty and territory."
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, a spokesperson for the top office said the two-day regular training is aimed at boosting military capabilities against any potential threats from "all forces"— not just from Japan. The spokesperson added various factors, including weather conditions, had been taken into consideration in scheduling this year's exercise.
Kicking off on Sunday, South Korea's drill was criticized by Japan.
Tokyo's foreign ministry called the exercises "unacceptable" and falsely claimed Dokdo is " an inherent part of the territory of Japan.
Japan's Self-Defense Forces held a major drill on Sunday in a show of force.
Holding a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in France on Sunday, it quickly became clear that the leaders of the U.S. and Japan had opposing views on North Korea's latest missile tests after launching two projectiles on Saturday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said "So our position is very clear that the launch of short range ballistic missiles by North Korea clearly violates the relevant U.N. Security Council resolution.
However, according to President Donald Trump, the regime's missile tests were not a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
The comments come after North Korea's seventh missile test since Trump and Kim met at the DMZ between the two Koreas in June.
President Trump said he remained confident North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will do what he says is "the right thing".
It's not the first time the two leaders have not seen eye-to-eye on North Korea.
During his sit-down with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump revealed he received a new letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, adding Kim was "upset" that South Korea was engaging in what Kim called "war games".
Despite Trump acknowledging the recent joint-military exercises between Seoul and Washington were a "modified version" compared to previous large-scale drills, the U.S. president still labeled them a "total waste of money".
South Korea's ruling party and the government have pledged to draw up an expansionary budget plan for next year.
Source: Arirang News
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