SEOUL: South Korea and the United States began joint maritime exercises with a US aircraft carrier on Friday (Oct 7), South Korea’s military said, a day after it scrambled fighter jets in reaction to an apparent North Korean bombing drill.
The maritime drills will take place in waters off South Korea’s east coast on Oct 7 and 8, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The drills come after North Korea launched a pair of ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, and later flew warplanes near the border with the South.
“We will continue to strengthen our operational capabilities and readiness to respond to any provocations by North Korea through joint drills with … the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The US strike group already participated in trilateral missile defence exercises with warships from Japan and South Korea this week, prompted by a test on Tuesday in which North Korea launched a ballistic missile that overflew part of Japan.
Senior defence officials from Japan, South Korea and the United States discussed the latest developments in a call on Friday, condemning the North Korean launches and agreeing that recent trilateral maritime drills have improved their ability to respond to North Korea, South Korea’s ministry of defence said in a statement.