(CNN) South Korea has angered Japan by staging military drills near a contested island chain, even as it discusses scaling back joint "war games" with the US to de-escalate tensions with North Korea.

The South Korean military dispatched six warships, including the 3,200-ton destroyer Yangmanchun, and aircraft including F-15K fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters to practice the defense of what South Korea calls the Dokdo Islands in waters east of the Korean Peninsula.

The islands are also claimed by Japan, where they are known as the Takeshima.

The South Korean drills, which it usually conducts twice a year, are expected to last two days.

Japan's Foreign Ministry on Sunday called on South Korea to stop the exercises.

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