A US aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Friday for the first time in nearly five years to take part in joint exercises against the nuclear-armed North.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group ships have docked in the southern port city of Busan, Seoul and Washington in a bid to bring more US strategic assets to the region.
Belligerent South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, has pledged to step up joint military exercises with the United States after years of diplomatic failure with North Korea under his predecessor.
A South Korean defense ministry official told AFP the visit was aimed at “deterring nuclear and missile threats from North Korea”.
Pyongyang has conducted a record number of weapons tests this year and revised its nuclear law earlier this month, enshrining the “first strike” doctrine and vowing never to give up its nuclear weapons.
Source: The Delfi
