(MENAFN) The USS Ronald Reagan landed in the South Korean port of Busan on Friday, ahead of the first joint military exercises featuring an aircraft carrier between Washington and Seoul since 2017. The nuclear-powered ship spent the summer in the South China Sea, amid tensions with China over Taiwan.
The Ronald Reagan, which arrived in Busan with two other ships from its carrier strike group, will host US and South Korean dignitaries before departing for exercises in the coming days.
Although the US Navy made no mention of North Korea in its announcement of the carrier's visit, the strike group's commander, Rear Admiral Michael Donnelly, told reporters that the drills demonstrate that the US and South Korean navies are "interoperable and integrated to face any challenge or threat."
The South Korean navy stated that the exercises show “the firm resolve by the Korea-U.S. alliance for the sake of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
The Ronald Reagan last visited Busan in 2017, when the United States sent three aircraft carriers to conduct joint drills with South Koreans in response to North Korean missile testing. Following drills were postponed or scaled up due to former President Donald Trump's diplomatic approach to North Korea beginning in 2018, as well as the Covid-19 epidemic beginning in 2020.
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