Japan will demonstrate its ties with the United States in huge joint military drills, just days after a US and South Korean show of force amid tensions on the Korean peninsula. A defence ministry spokeswoman said today that the previously announced Keen Sword drills, which were planned before North Korea's artillery barrage of a South Korean island last week, will take place from tomorrow to December 10. Around 34,000 Japanese Self-Defence Force personnel with 40 warships and 250 aircraft will join more than 10,000 US personnel with 20 warships and 150 aircraft in the drill. The biggest US-Japanese drill since 2007 will take place in Japanese waters off its southern islands, close to the southern coast of South Korea.