South Korea, US stage first combined military exercises with air carrier

Kathmandu: South Korea and the United States staged their first combined military exercises involving an American aircraft carrier in more than four years, Seoul’s military said today. This comes amid reports that North Korea was preparing for a nuclear test. The three-day drills took place in international waters off the Japanese island of Okinawa until today. Seoul officials have said Pyongyang has conducted multiple experiments with a detonation device in preparation for its seventh underground explosion.

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.