U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz staged combined naval exercises with South Korea in international waters off the southern island of Jeju on Monday (March 27), on a day North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.

The carrier is scheduled to arrive at a South Korean naval base in Busan on Tuesday (March 28) in its first docking in South Korea in nearly six years, partly to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance, Seoul's defence ministry said. In September, another aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan visited the port.

Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney, commander of the strike group, did not specify how it detects and responds to North Korean missile tests, but said it was "well informed" about such activities, with the vessel serving as a command and control centre gathering information across all domains from space to the undersea.

The drills were designed to improve the execution of U.S. extended deterrence — its military capability, especially nuclear forces, to deter attacks on its allies — by deploying American strategic assets amid the North's growing threats, a South Korean navy official said.

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