South Korea & US begins joint maritime exercises today

South Korea and the United States began joint maritime exercises with a US aircraft carrier on Friday, October 7. South Korea’s defence ministry said that the maritime drills will take place in waters off South Korea’s east coast on 7-8th of October.

It said, both countries will continue to strengthen their operational capabilities and readiness to respond to any provocations by North Korea through joint drills.

The drills come after North Korea launched a pair of ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, October 6, and later flew warplanes near the border with the South.

The US strike group already participated in trilateral missile defense exercises with warships from Japan and South Korea this week, prompted by a test on Tuesday in which North Korea launched a ballistic missile that overflew part of Japan.