US aircraft carrier Reagan to be sent to Korean Peninsula this month

The United States is expected to send the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) to waters near the Korean Peninsula this month for a combined exercise with South Korea's Navy.

"We are in consultations [with the U.S.] on a plan for the aircraft strike group led by the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan, to operate in the East Sea around Oct. 15," the Yonhap News Agency quoted an official, as saying.

The Reagan, a forward-deployed aircraft carrier, will likely be accompanied by several other warships belonging to the strike group, such as an Aegis destroyer, a guided-missile cruiser and a nuclear-powered submarine.

The two sides plan to conduct joint drills to intercept Pyongyang's ballistic missiles in addition to anti-submarine warfare training.

The U.S. flew a squadron of B-1B strategic bombers and fighter jets close to the North's east coast last weekend.

-ANI