South Korea, the United States and Japan have jointly conducted naval drills in waters south of the Korean Peninsula
The joint exercise took place in southeastern waters off Jeju Island involving nine warships of the three nations, including the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, from Monday to Wednesday, South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying.
The South Korean Navy's Aegis combat system-equipped destroyers and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kongo-class destroyers joined the maritime exercise.
"The exercise is aimed at bolstering the three nations' deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea's nuclear and missile threat as well as maritime threats," the JCS said in a release.
The drills began a day after North Korea test-fired a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile carrying a hypersonic warhead into the East Sea in its first missile launch this year.
