What is happening? US aircraft carrier and South Korean warships in action near the Korean Peninsula

The American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "USS Ronald Reagan" has started a new round of naval exercises with South Korean warships. The two-day exercise, which began on Friday, is being held a day after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea and sent 12 fighter jets near the border, stepping up its weapons tests.

The aircraft carrier Reagan and its battle group were sent to waters near the Korean Peninsula after North Korea earlier this week fired a nuclear-capable missile over Japan in response to earlier military maneuvers by a South Korean navy carrier group. . North Korea sees the US-South Korea military exercises as a test to conquer the North. South Korea's military says the latest drills take place off the peninsula's eastern coast.

The latest two-day drills, involving US and South Korean warships and other vessels, were taking place in international waters off the peninsula's eastern coast.

The drills are aimed at strengthening the allies' defense capabilities and will include training to escort the aircraft carrier Reagan southeast of South Korea's southern Jeju Island, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

"We will continue to strengthen our operational capabilities and readiness to respond to any provocation from North Korea," the statement said.

North Korea may respond to the new drills with more missile tests. The North's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the carrier group's relocation posed "a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity."

On Friday, the top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan held trilateral phone talks and agreed to step up their efforts to block the North's alleged theft of cryptocurrencies and other means to fund programs its nuclear and missile.

They also decided to strengthen international cooperation to check North Korea's efforts to evade UN sanctions, such as prohibited ship-to-ship transfers at sea, according to South Korea's Foreign Ministry.

North Korea's record pace of weapons testing this year aims to expand its arsenal in order to bolster the credibility of its nuclear threats to the US mainland and regional allies, and then engage in negotiations with the US from a stronger position as a nuclear state. Its two ballistic missile launches on Thursday were the sixth round in less than two weeks.

The medium-range missile North Korea tested on Tuesday is likely a Hwasong-12 missile capable of reaching the US territory of Guam in the Pacific, observers say. Other missiles launched recently are short-range weapons aimed at South Korea.

Koreja e Veriut është gati të kryejë testin e saj të parë bërthamor në pesë vjet dhe po përgatitet të testojë një raketë të re balistike ndërkontinentale me lëndë djegëse të lëngshme dhe një raketë balistike të lëshuar nga nëndetëset, u tha ligjvënësve Heo Tae-keun, zëvendësministri i politikës së mbrojtjes kombëtare të Koresë së Jugut. në fillim të kësaj jave.

Të premten, Heo pati video-telefonata trepalëshe me homologët e tij amerikanë dhe japonezë për të diskutuar testet e fundit të raketave të Koresë së Veriut. Ata theksuan se bashkëpunimi i sigurisë midis tre vendeve do të forcohej nëse Veriu vazhdon provokimet e tij, tha në një deklaratë Ministria e Mbrojtjes e Koresë së Jugut.

Të enjten, anijet luftarake të tre vendeve kryen stërvitje të përbashkëta njëditore në brigjet lindore të gadishullit për të përmirësuar aftësitë e tyre për të kërkuar, gjurmuar dhe përgjuar raketat balistike të Koresë së Veriut. Javën e kaluar, ata zhvilluan stërvitje kundër nëndetëseve që përfshinte aeroplanmbajtësen “Regan” në zonë.

Koreja e Veriut dërgoi gjithashtu 12 avionë luftarakë dhjetëra kilometra nga kufiri ndër-korean, duke bërë që Jugu të reagonte me ngritjen e 30 avionëve ushtarakë si kundër-përgjigje. Nuk është shënuar përplasje.

Eight North Korean fighter jets and four bombers are believed to have conducted air-to-surface missile drills, South Korea's military said. Yonhap news agency reported that it was likely to be the largest mobilization of North Korean fighter jets for such an exercise near the border. /VOA