First joint Korea-U.S. naval exercise in five years begins

South Korea and the United States began their first combined naval exercise in five years on Monday, a day after North Korea conducted a ballistic missile launch.

Onlookers in Busan take photographs of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan as it departs for joint exercises with the South Korean Navy on Monday morning. [YONHAP]

South Korea and the United States began their first combined naval exercise in five years on Monday, a day after North Korea conducted a ballistic missile launch.

The four-day exercise in the East Sea will involve more than 20 vessels including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the nuclear-powered USS Annapolis submarine and South Korean destroyers ROKS Seoae Ryu Sung-ryong and ROKS Munmu the Great.

These ships, along with a range of naval aircraft such as F/A-18E Super Hornets, P-3 and P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft, F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets and AH-64E Apache helicopters, will conduct anti-ship and anti-submarine drills, tactical maneuvers and other maritime operations, the South Korean Navy said.

The participation of the USS Annapolis will allow the allies to practice detecting and tracking submerged vessels to counter the threat of North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM), which the regime last tested in May.

South Korea and the United States are ramping up defense cooperation to send a message that they are ready to counter any military threat from the North.

The South Korean military detected preparations this week for an SLBM test by the North in Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province, an assessment that was broadly in line with a report by U.S.-based think tank 38 North that cited commercial satellite imagery.

The South Korean presidential office released a statement on Saturday saying President Yoon Suk-yeol is aware of signs and movements that could suggest a provocation by North Korea, including an SLBM launch.

“This exercise was prepared to demonstrate the strong will of the South Korea-US alliance to respond to North Korean provocations,” the South Korean Navy said in a press release.

“Through this training drill, we will further improve both Navies’ capabilities to carry out combined operations and maintain a strong maritime defensive posture based on the solid South Korea-U.S. alliance,” the statement added.

The Ronald Reagan carrier strike group arrived in Busan on Friday to join the exercise.

The carrier’s arrival followed a joint pledge by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden during their May summit in Seoul to deploy U.S. strategic assets to South Korea.

The Ronald Reagan carrier strike group includes two other vessels, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville and the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Barry.

Observers believe the North’s short-range ballistic missile launch on Sunday morning was a response to the allies’ joint naval exercises, and particularly the arrival of the Ronald Reagan in Busan.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]