U.S. aircraft carrier not to join drills with S. Korea in Sept.
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The George Washington, a U.S. aircraft carrier that participated in the joint drills between South Korea and the United States in July, will not join the next round of naval exercises slated for September, the United Nations Command (UNC) in Soeul said Friday.
The 97,000-ton aircraft carrier will not take part in the next naval exercises off the west coast of the Korean peninsula, but it "will operate in the waters off the Korean peninsula in future exercises," the UNC said in a statement.
Seoul and Washington are planning on the second in a series of combined military maneuvers as punitive measures against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for allegedly sinking a South Korean warship in March. The DPRK denies its responsibility.
The two allies are still fine-tuning details of the second round of exercises, but the drills will be "defensive in nature" and aimed at sending a "clear message of deterrence" to Pyongyang, the command said.
Pyongyang and Beijing have voiced discontent over the planned drills, saying that they will raise tension in the region. The DPRK, South Korea's wartime rival, previously warned of military countermeasures against the exercise.
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