South Korea, U.S. to stage drills with aircraft carrier after North Korean missile launches

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan is anchored at a port in Busan, South Korea, September 23, 2022. REUTERS/Daewoung Kim/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea and the United States began joint maritime exercises with a U.S. aircraft carrier on Friday, South Korea's military said, a day after it scrambled fighter jets in reaction to an apparent North Korean bombing drill.

The maritime drills will take place in waters off South Korea's east coast on Oct. 7-8, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The drills come after North Korea launched a pair of ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, and later flew warplanes near the border with the South.