South Korea, US, Japan stage joint naval drills involving aircraft carrier

South Korea, the United States and Japan jointly conducted naval drills in waters south of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday to bolster their defence posture against North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats, the South's Navy said.

The joint exercise took place in southeastern waters off Jeju Island involving the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which has been docked at a naval base in Busan, 320 kilometres southeast of Seoul, the Yonhap news agency reported on November 26.

The South Korean Navy's Aegis combat system-equipped destroyers and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's Murasame-class destroyers joined the air defence and maritime exercise, the Navy said.

The drill was held to bolster the joint capabilities and combined defence posture of the three nations against North Korea's rising nuclear and missile threat following its launch of a military spy satellite Tuesday, according to the armed service.

The trilateral drill came a day after Pyongyang claimed its reconnaissance satellite took photos of US Army bases in South Korea and US territories of Hawaii and Guam, as well as the USS Carl Vinson, which arrived in Busan on November 21.

Earlier this month, the defence ministers of the three nations agreed to develop a multiyear joint drill plan and expand the scope of the exercise to better counter the North's threat.