The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), the flagship of the Yokosuka, Japan-based Carrier Strike Group Five of the US Navy, will sail to South Korea's Yellow and South Seas to participate in a joint naval exercise with South Korea, slated for Oct. 10-15, the official said.
"The USS Ronald Reagan will take part in the combined maritime exercise between the US and South Korean militaries to be carried out in the western and southern seas," the official noted.
The exercise will focus on training the allies' naval forces on joint precision attacks on North Korea's key military facilities and its leadership that would be launched in the event of a war with the country.
Nicknamed a floating air base, the vessel is capable of carrying some 80 combat fighters and aircraft, as well as about 5,400 crewmen.
Powered by two nuclear reactors, the USS Ronald Reagan is part of assets the US maintains against North Korea.
Other warships under the Carrier Strike Group Five will accompany the USS Ronald Reagan to the drills, the official said, including the USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54), USS John S. McCain (DDG-56), USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USS Stethem (DDG-63) and USS Barry (DDG-52) destroyers.
The forthcoming deployment will serve as the US military warning against North Korea, which conducted its fifth nuclear test on Friday.
The official said the US is also planning to deploy a slew of other strategic military assets to South Korea, including the B-2 stealth nuclear bomber, down the road in a show of military might against North Korea.
Sources said the US will dispatch a strategic bomber, possibly the B-2, to South Korea as early as Monday from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
YNA/MNA
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