"This exercise served as an opportunity to enhance our military's response capabilities against ballistic missiles and improve security cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan," a Navy official said as quoted by Yonhap, adding that the three countries "will effectively respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats."
Yonhap specified that the drills were organized around a scenario of a ballistic missile launch by North Korea and featured three Aegis-equipped destroyers.
The last time that the US, Japan and South Korea held a trilateral missile defense exercise was in April.
On Wednesday, Pyongyang test-fired the new-type Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It is believed to have flown over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) at a maximum altitude of over 6,000 kilometers on a lofted trajectory.
South Korea imposed new sanctions on four North Korean individuals and three entities after Pyongyang's latest launch . The US and South Korea held combined air drills on Thursday in response to North Korea’s ICBM launch.
(With UNI inputs)