South Korea, the United States, and Japan conducted another joint naval exercise in the East Sea on Thursday, with a focus on countering North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
The exercise, involving the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group, began in international waters hours after North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles, according to Seoul’s military.
Several warships were mobilised, including South Korea’s King Sejong the Great destroyer, the USS Benfold destroyer from the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group, and Japan’s Chokai destroyer, according to Yonhap news agency, citing Seoul’s military.
They practised detecting, tracking, and intercepting North Korean ballistic missile launches by sharing target information, according to the report.
On September 30, the three countries held joint maritime drills in the East Sea, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, as a show of force in response to the North’s continued provocations.
It was redeployed to the seas on Wednesday in response to the North’s earlier launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan.
