Two US carrier strike groups, Japanese destroyers in massive show of force off Korean peninsula
The US-Japan drill comes shortly after the Pentagon tested an interceptor system to strike down a dummy ballistic missile
A pair of US aircraft carriers and Japanese naval vessels conducted a joint drill in waters off the Korean peninsula Thursday, in an apparent show of force days after the latest North Korean ballistic missile test.
The strike groups of USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan joined Japanese destroyers Hyuga and Ashigara for the exercise in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), where Monday’s missile landed.
The drills came as Washington and Tokyo step up their rhetoric with an eye to stopping North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes.
Pyongyang has now conducted a dozen ballistic missile tests this year, in defiance of UN sanctions warnings and amid fears that it may be preparing for another nuclear test.
The US-Japan drill on Thursday comes shortly after the Pentagon tested an interceptor system to strike down a dummy ballistic missile.
Last month, naval exercises were conducted in the same waters with the USS Carl Vinson and South Korean and Japanese aircraft taking part.