Korea-US-Japan Naval Drills

South Korea, the U.S., and Japan held trilateral naval drills in waters south of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday to bolster combined military readiness amid North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats. 

The exercises took place in waters off the coast of Jeju-do Island, and involved the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The nuclear-powered vessel arrived at a naval base in the southern port city of Busan last Tuesday, in a show of a defensive posture against Pyongyang's military provocations. The trilateral naval drills came a day after the North said its reconnaissance satellite, launched on the 21st, took photos of U.S. Army bases in South Korea as well as in Hawaii and Guam.