South Korea, US stage military drills

Seoul: South Korea and the United States held their first combined military exercises involving an American aircraft carrier in more than four years, Seoul’s military said on Saturday.
The three-day drills which took place in international waters off the Japanese island of Okinawa until Saturday, included air defence, anti-ship, anti-submarine, and maritime interdiction operations, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The exercises came amid signs that North Korea is gearing up to conduct a nuclear test for the first time since 2017. South Korean officials have said Pyongyang has conducted multiple experiments with a detonation device in preparation for its seventh underground explosion.
The USS Ronald Reagan, a 100,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, joined the drills, alongside the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam, the Aegis-equipped USS Benfold destroyer, and the Fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn, the JCS said.
South Korea also sent the 14,500-ton Marado amphibious landing ship, the 7,600-ton Sejong the Great destroyer, and the 4,400-ton Munmu the Great destroyer, among others.
It was the allies’ first joint military exercise since South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol took office last month, and their first bilateral exercises involving an aircraft carrier since November 2017.
In a recent summit with Yoon, US President Joe Biden promised to deploy “strategic assets” if necessary to deter North Korea as part of efforts to bolster the extended deterrence. (UNI)