The US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on Saturday kicked off a joint drill with the South Korean navy, officials said, as tensions rose over North Korea's latest test-fire of a ballistic missile. "Immediately after the aircraft carrier arrived in the Sea of Japan, South Korea and the US strike forces launched a drill from 6:00 pm (0900 GMT) Saturday", a defence ministry spokesman told AFP.

The drill came hours after the North launched a ballistic missile in apparent defiance of a concerted US push for tougher international sanctions to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapons ambitions. The drill aimed to verify the allies' capability to track and intercept enemy ballistic missiles, the spokesman said. He declined to clarify how long the drill would last, but Yonhap news agency said it was expected to continue until sometime next week. The drill will also include a live-fire exercise and anti-submarine manoeuvres, the spokesman added. It would mark the USS Carl Vinson's second operation in South Korean waters in less than two months amid heightened military tensions in Korea. In March, the aircraft carrier carried out annual joint drills.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017