Responding to Missile Launch and Bombing Exercise North, US and South Korea Hold Carrier Exercises

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) with the combat group he leads. (Wikimedia Commons/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Christian Senyk)

JAKARTA - South Korea and the United States began joint maritime drills with a US aircraft carrier on Friday, the South Korean military said, a day after they deployed fighter jets in reaction to North Korea's bombing drills.

The maritime drills will take place in waters off South Korea's east coast on October 7-8, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The drills came after North Korea launched a pair of ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, and then flew warplanes and bombers near the border with the South.

"We will continue to strengthen our operational capabilities and readiness to respond to any provocation by North Korea through joint exercises with the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, citing Reuters, October 7.

Earlier, the US strike group had participated in a trilateral missile defense exercise with warships from Japan and South Korea this week, responding to North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile that flew over Japanese territory on Tuesday.

Senior defense officials from Japan, South Korea and the United States discussed the latest developments in a call on Friday, condemning the North Korean launch and agreeing that recent trilateral maritime exercises have increased their ability to respond to North Korea, South Korea's Defense Ministry said. in a statement.

South Korea deployed 30 warplanes in anticipation of a rare bombing drill by at least eight North Korean fighter jets and four bombers on Thursday.