<p align="justify" class="title">South Korean warships joined three US aircraft carriers Saturday in an unusually strong display of naval force aimed at North Korea, whose nuclear ambitions have been a focus of US President Donald Trump's ongoing tour of Asia.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The four-day joint exercise in the western Pacific involves three flattops -- USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt -- and seven South Korean warships including three destroyers, Seoul's defence ministry said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">It is the first such triple-carrier drill in the region for a decade.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"The exercise is aimed at enhancing deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and showing off preparedness to fend off any provocative acts by the North," a ministry spokesman said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Nuclear-armed North Korea regularly denounces such military drills as rehearsals for invasion and sometimes conducts its own military manoeuvres or missile tests in response.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The US warships will carry out air defence drills, sea surveillance, defensive air combat training and other training operations, the US Navy said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The exercises come on the heels of Trump's visits to Seoul and Beijing this week, which were dominated by the question of how to counter Pyongyang's nuclear weapons threat.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">In a speech to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump warned North Korea not to underestimate the United States, while offering leader Kim Jong-Un a better future if he gives up his nuclear ambitions.</p>
<p align="justify" class="title">South Korean warships joined three US aircraft carriers Saturday in an unusually strong display of naval force aimed at North Korea, whose nuclear ambitions have been a focus of US President Donald Trump's ongoing tour of Asia.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The four-day joint exercise in the western Pacific involves three flattops -- USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt -- and seven South Korean warships including three destroyers, Seoul's defence ministry said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">It is the first such triple-carrier drill in the region for a decade.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">"The exercise is aimed at enhancing deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and showing off preparedness to fend off any provocative acts by the North," a ministry spokesman said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">Nuclear-armed North Korea regularly denounces such military drills as rehearsals for invasion and sometimes conducts its own military manoeuvres or missile tests in response.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The US warships will carry out air defence drills, sea surveillance, defensive air combat training and other training operations, the US Navy said.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">The exercises come on the heels of Trump's visits to Seoul and Beijing this week, which were dominated by the question of how to counter Pyongyang's nuclear weapons threat.</p>.<p align="justify" class="bodytext">In a speech to the South Korean parliament on Wednesday, Trump warned North Korea not to underestimate the United States, while offering leader Kim Jong-Un a better future if he gives up his nuclear ambitions.</p>