According to a US official, the ships were sent there amid fears of a North Korean nuclear-test.
The United States’ aircraft carrier strike force group, an American airborne unit, has been stationed off the Korean coast. It is expected to engage in naval drills.
The USS Abraham Lincoln strike group is now operating near the Sea of Japan – also known as the East Sea – an unnamed US official told Reuters on Monday, following reports in South Korean media that the ships had been deployed to international waters in the region in an “apparent show of force.”
For military exercises, the vessels will join forces with Japanese forces in the next few days “to reassure allies and partners in the region,”The US official continued. Reuters noted that Washington has made this move. “increasingly concerned that North Korea could carry out an underground nuclear test.”
The carrier strike force will be the first to deploy since 2017. In 2017, the USS Ronald Reagan (Theodore Roosevelt) and Nimitz (as well as other destroyers and support ships) were stationed close the East Sea in tensions with North Korea.
Although the Pentagon is yet to publicly confirm the details, Yonhap News sources said that the USS Abraham Lincoln will remain in the region. “three to five days.”
After officials from South Korea visited Washington last Wednesday, they requested that the United States redeploy a range of strategic assets such as aircraft carriers and long-range nukes.
Pyongyang denounced the US’s provocative drills in the region, particularly those that were held with South Korea. It saw the drills as being a rehearsal for an invasion and condemned them repeatedly. The North, despite not having conducted a nuclear attack since 2017, has carried out a string of long-range missile testing in the last months. One such test was for an upgraded intercontinental missile (ICBM).
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