SEOUL, South Korea (Washington Insider Magazine)-Following many launches by North Korea this week, U.S. warships from the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group joined forces with South Korean and Japanese destroyers to practice taking down missiles in the Sea of Japan on Thursday.
According to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, two South Korean ships and two Japanese destroyers participated in the drill in the Sea of Japan, along with the guided missile destroyers USS Benfold and USS Chancellorsville.
According to ABC NEWS, the USS Reagan and the vessels in its strike group just left the Sea of Japan following a previous round of exercises with Japanese and South Korean naval troops. When North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday, it was moving to the east in the Pacific Ocean. The strike group returned to the Sea of Japan on Wednesday after doing a U-turn in retaliation.
North Korea fired 2 short-range ballistic missiles into the ocean on the same day.
Prior to the anti-missile exercises at sea, the United States and its allies replied to North Korea’s shooting over Japan with displays of force in the air and on land. Alongside South Korean and Japanese fighters, American fighters flew above, some of them hitting ground targets on an unoccupied island west of the peninsula.
However, a South Korean projectile that failed shortly after launch and damaged a structure on its own bases during a combined ground-to-ground missile practice on Wednesday conveyed mixed signals.
The northeast coast of South Korea’s Gangneung is where one of its Hyunmoo missiles “fell after an abnormal flight,” according to the country’s joint chiefs of the military. No casualties were recorded, and the cause was being investigated, they added.
Officials have already issued a warning that North Korea may soon carry out its first nuclear test since 2017.
According to Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, during a news conference on Thursday, the United States continues to believe that North Korea is preparing for such a test, although it is unclear when.
“If and when they do conduct a nuclear test, I’m not going to speculate,” Ryder added.
