South Korea defends maritime drill with US aircraft carrier as defensive

South Korea's Defense Ministry on Monday justified the scheduled joint maritime drills with a U.S. aircraft carrier as the one of defensive nature, saying that it was nothing that deserved to be blamed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). "The maritime training between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan is a humanitarian training exercise to search and rescue private ships that meet with a disaster," Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a press briefing. Kim said that the trilateral exercise has nothing to be, or deserved to be, blamed by the DPRK, adding that Pyongyang's condemnation of the drill was wrong. U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan last Friday to conduct joint maritime drills with Seoul and Tokyo in waters off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula for three days from Tuesday. The 97,000-ton, nuclear-powered super-carrier entered Busan, some 450 kilometers south of the country's capital Seoul, along with guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam CG-54 and guided-missile destroyer USS Preble DDG 88. Spokesman Kim noted that the aircraft carrier and its colleague warships were to exercise together as the group was loading a number of aircrafts that can help search and rescue wrecked ships effectively. The super-carrier is capable of loading some 70 units of fighter jet, anti-submarine helicopter and early warning aircraft. Meanwhile, Pyongyang raised the pitch of its criticism against the South Korean government, blasting the joint defense strategy signed last Wednesday between Seoul and Washington. Defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States singed the so-called "Tailored Deterrence Strategy" that will allow the allies to take preemptive strikes against possible threats of the DPRK's nuclear weapons with all possible military capabilities such as the American nuclear umbrella, conventional strikes and missile defense system. The DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said earlier Monday that the joint defense strategy would destroy dialogue and peace process, while escalating military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The committee slammed South Korean President Park Geun-hye, saying that Park urged the DPRK to dismantle its nuclear program when Seoul signed the joint defense strategy and disclosed its intention to make a nuclear strike against the DPRK. Last Saturday, the committee criticized President Park by her name, saying that "Park Geun-hye and her cohorts" should act prudently and accept Pyongyang's criticism. The DPRK's Policy Department of the National Defense Commission (NDC) said Friday that if "Park Geun-hye and her cohorts" seek ruthlessly to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear program and subvert its regime in collusion with foreign power under the pretext of causing changes in the DPRK, it would equal to "digging its own grave." It was the third time for the DPRK to denounce President Park by name since she took office in February. The latest occurred in July.