WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) – The USS Abraham Lincoln strike group is working in waters off the Korean peninsula, a U.S. official stated, after South Korean media reported that the ships have been deployed amid tensions over North Korea’s missile assessments.
The official stated the group is within the Sea of Japan, often known as the East Sea, for workouts with Japanese forces to reassure allies and companions within the area. The transfer comes as U.S. officers are more and more involved that North Korea may perform an underground nuclear check within the coming days.
This is the primary time since 2017 {that a} carrier group has deployed to the waters between South Korea and Japan. That 12 months the USS Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt and Nimitz, and their multi-ship strike teams, deployed in a present of drive over North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons assessments.
South Korea’s Yonhap information company cited unnamed knowledgeable sources who stated the USS Abraham Lincoln could be working within the space for 3 to 5 days.
Responding to South Korean media experiences on Monday, a spokesman for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) stated they’d not touch upon deliberate or ongoing drills.
Advisors to South Korea’s president-elect sought redeployment of U.S. strategic property, resembling aircraft carriers, nuclear bombers and submarines, to the Korean peninsula throughout talks held on a go to to Washington final week.
South Korea’s defence ministry stated it’s conscious that the carrier group is in worldwide waters however declined to touch upon the experiences, as a result of it’s a U.S. navy asset.
North Korea has beforehand criticised U.S. navy drills as a rehearsal for battle, and stated they enhance tensions.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington and Josh Smith in Seoul; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
