US moves carrier strike group near North Korea in response to missile launches

A US Navy aircraft carrier strike group enters waters off the Korean Peninsula as tensions erupt between US allies South Korea/Japan and North Korea following missile launches at the past two weeks, South Korean security officials said.

South Korea’s National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency meeting on Thursday, Oct. 6, after North Korea launched two more short-range ballistic missiles, the sixth of its kind in 12 days, it said. the country’s presidential office said in a statement.

The NSC has warned that North Korea’s provocation will face a stronger response, revealing the redeployment of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and its strike group to the East Sea, also known as the Sea of ​​Japan, following Pyongyang’s launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile. (IRBM), which flew over Japan on Tuesday.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also said the US carrier battle group would be redeployed to the Sea of ​​Japan, in what it called a “highly unusual” move meant to “demonstrate the resolute will of the SK alliance -US to respond decisively.” to any provocation or threat from North Korea.

Asked about the South Korean statement on Reagan’s movements, a spokesperson for the US 7th Fleet told CNN: “The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is currently operating in the Sea of ​​Japan.”

Pyongyang reacted harshly to South Korea’s statement on US Navy strike group movements

“The DPRK views the United States as posing a serious threat to the stability of the situation on and around the Korean Peninsula by redeploying the Naval Air Task Force to the waters off the Korean Peninsula,” read a statement from the DPRK. North Korean Foreign Ministry. on the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

The missile launches from Pyongyang on Thursday are the 24th such test this year, including ballistic and cruise missiles, making kt the highest annual tally since Kim Jong Un took power in 2012.

Last month, the US, Japanese and South Korean navies conducted joint anti-submarine drills in international waters off the east coast of the Korean peninsula to improve their ability to respond to underwater threats. North Koreans.

The Reagan Carrier Strike Group as well as South Korean and Japanese destroyers participated in the joint exercise, according to the South Korean Navy.