South Korea and the United States began joint maritime exercises with a U.S. aircraft carrier on Friday, South Korea's military said.

Iran PressAsia: The maritime drills will take place in waters off South Korea's east coast on Oct. 7-8, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

North Korea launched a pair of ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, and later flew warplanes near the border with the South.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said they will continue to strengthen their operational capabilities and readiness with ... the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group.

The US strike group already participated in trilateral missile defence exercises with warships from Japan and South Korea this week.

North Korea launched a ballistic missile test on Tuesday that overflew part of Japan.

On Thursday North Korea condemned the United States for repositioning the aircraft carrier near the peninsula, saying it posed a serious threat to the stability of the situation.

In the statement, the North Korean foreign ministry also criticised Washington for calling a United Nations Security Council meeting over the launches, saying they were a "just countermeasure" to the joint U.S.-South Korea drills.

The US has tried to hold joint drills with South Korea over years. This issue also provokes North Korea to launch a number of missiles to show its defence capability.

What the United States has always tried to do is to constitute provocation in Asia and it is fond of meddlesome in the Asian region's affairs. US security policy in the Asia-Pacific region directly affects China’s security interests as well.

It is the US that invented “coercive diplomacy” and excels at coercing countries. Over the years, by imposing economic blockade, unilateral sanctions and other means, the US has practiced coercive diplomacy around the world.

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