US, South Korea participate in naval excerisies after North Korean ballistic missile launch
In response to a test on Tuesday in which North Korea launched a ballistic missile that overflew part of Japan, the U.S. strike group has taken part in trilateral missile defence exercises with warships from Japan and South Korea this week.
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A day after scrambling fighter jets in response to what seemed to be a North Korean bombing drill, South Korea and the United States started joint maritime drills with a U.S. aircraft carrier on Friday, according to South Korea’s military.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea said that the maritime exercises would take place from October 6 to 8 in the waters off its east coast. The exercises follow North Korea’s Thursday sea launch of two ballistic missiles and subsequent flight of warplanes close to the border with South Korea.
“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.
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In response to a test on Tuesday in which North Korea launched a ballistic missile that overflew part of Japan, the U.S. strike group has taken part in trilateral missile defence exercises with warships from Japan and South Korea this week.
In a conference call on Friday, senior defence officials from Japan, South Korea, and the United States condemned North Korean launches and concurred that recent trilateral maritime drills have improved their capacity to respond to North Korea, according to a statement from South Korea’s ministry of defence.
The South sent out 30 fighters in response to the unusual bombing exercise carried out by at least eight North Korean fighter jets and four bombers on Thursday. Warplanes descended from the sky on both sides of the heavily guarded border as tensions over Pyongyang’s recent missile launches rose.
According to North Korea, a severe threat to the stability of the situation was posed by the US moving the aircraft carrier close to the peninsula on Thursday.
The North Korean foreign ministry also criticised the United States for convening a Security Council meeting over the launches, claiming they were a “fair countermeasure” to the joint drills between the United States and South Korea.
On Wednesday, the United States charged China and Russia with supporting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by thwarting efforts to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang over its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Russia’s representative referred to the latest penalties as a “dead end,” and China stated that it preferred to concentrate on positive steps to defuse tensions.
