US naval fleet set to be joined by two more nations as armada heads to pressure North Korea

South Korean in talks with US Navy over 'joint drills' as Japanese reveal they have sent two destroyers to join the carrier group

 

South Korea is in talks about holding joint drills with a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group, it said on Monday.
The country's Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun gave no further details about the plans, other than saying Seoul was holding discussions with the U.S. Navy.
"I can say the South Korean and U.S. militaries are fully ready for North Korea's nuclear test," he said.
The U.S. President Donald Trump was also due to call Chinese President Xi Jinping after speaking with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier that day, amid fears North Korea could conduct another nuclear test.
North Korea said at the weekend it was ready to sink the U.S. aircraft carrier, which Trump had ordered to waters off the Korean peninsula as a warning to the North.
And Japan said on Sunday it had sent two Japanese to join the carrier group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, for drills.
Abe described his conversation with Trump as a "thorough exchange of views".
He said: "We agreed to strongly demand that North Korea, which is repeating its provocation, show restraint.
"We will maintain in close contact with the United States, keep a high level of vigilance and respond firmly."
Abe also said he and Trump agreed that China, North Korea's neighbour and sole major ally, should play a large role in dealing with Pyongyang.

 
South Korean and U.S. officials have feared for some time that North Korea could soon carry out its sixth nuclear test.
Satellite imagery analysed by 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, found some activity under way at North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site last week.
However, the group said it was unclear whether the site was in a "tactical pause" before another test or was carrying out normal operations.
Adding to the heightened tensions, North Korea detained a U.S. citizen on Saturday as he attempted to leave the country.