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STORY: South Korea on Wednesday (July 16) began its five-day joint naval exercise with the United States in the country's southwestern sea.
Seoul's Yonhap news agency said the five-day exercise will involve the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, two American cruisers, one U.S. Aegis ship as well as two South Korean Navy Aegis ships.
"We consider this a highly useful bilateral exercise. There is a great exchange of information, tactics, techniques and procedures between our two navies so that we come together as a stronger unit. We're convinced that our operations, our day-to-day operations, with the Republic of Korea navy make us stronger together," said a U.S. commander Mark C. Montgomery.
The U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in South Korean port city of Busan on July 11 to take part in the annual exercise as well as a trilateral marine drill with Japan and South Korea.
North Korea's state media has in recent days calle
