The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan launched a new round of naval drills with South Korean warships on Friday, a day after North Korea fired more ballistic missiles and flew warplanes in an escalation of its weapons tests.
The Reagan and its battle group returned to the waters near the Korean Peninsula after North Korea earlier this week launched a nuclear-capable missile over Japan in response to the carrier group's earlier training with South Korean navy ships. North Korea views U.S.-South Korean military exercises as a practice to invade the country.
North Korea may react to the new drills with more missile tests. The North's Foreign Ministry said Thursday the carrier group's redeployment poses “a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity.” North Korea is ready to conduct its first nuclear test in five years and is preparing to test a new liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile, Heo Tae-keun, South Korea's deputy minister of national defense policy, told lawmakers earlier this week.