The U. S. and South Korea are readying for a new joint military exercise, raising the specter of another missile test by Pyongyang.
SEOUL — The U. S. and South Korea are readying for a new joint military exercise, raising the specter of another missile test by Pyongyang.
The two nations will this week start a five-day drill off the Korean Peninsula, involving more than 40 naval vessels and both countries’ air forces, according to South Korea’s navy. The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and the USS Stethem and USS Mustin destroyers will be deployed for the exercise, the commander of the U. S. Seventh Fleet said.
Such joint exercises have previously drawn sharp criticism from North Korea. On Saturday, Pyongyang state media described the coming drill as “a reckless act of war” that “only drives the tense situation on the peninsula into the point of explosion.
