US aircraft carrier and South Korean ship begin new exercises

 US aircraft carrier and South Korean ship begin new exercises

The exercises come after North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, which were followed by jets near the border with South Korea.

Seoul and Washington began joint naval exercises using US aircraft carriers and South Korean ships on Friday, the South Korean military said, a day after Pyongyang fired more ballistic missiles and warplanes, escalating tensions with the enemy.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the naval exercises will be held in the waters off the country's east coast from Oct. 7 to 8. The exercises come after North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, which were followed by jets near the border with South Korea.

"We will continue to enhance our operational capabilities and readiness to respond to any North Korean provocation through joint exercises with the USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The US strike group has already participated in a three-way missile defense exercise this week with warships from Japan and South Korea, after Tuesday's test of a North Korean ballistic missile over parts of Japan.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement that senior defense officials from Japan, South Korea and the United States discussed the latest developments in a conference call on Friday, condemned the North Korean launch and agreed that the recent trilateral naval exercises had improved their response to North Korea's capabilities. .

A rare bombing exercise used at least eight North Korean fighter jets and four North Korean bombers on Thursday, prompting South Korea to deploy 30 combat planes. Warplanes flew on both sides of the heavily fortified border as tensions rose over a series of missile tests by Pyongyang.

North Korea regards the military exercises between the United States and South Korea as an experiment in invading the country. North Korea may respond to the new exercises with more missile tests.