Korea

US Supercarrier Patrols Near North Korea to Deter Military Moves by Pyongyang

The USS Ronald Reagan’s presence off the coast of the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of Japan as part of previously reported naval and air force exercises with the South Korean navy is designed to persuade North Korea from taking military action, Reuters reported from aboard the ship Thursday.

“The dangerous and aggressive behavior by North Korea concerns everybody in the world,” says Rear Adm. Marc Dalton, commander of the carrier strike group led by the USS Ronald Reagan. “We have made it clear with this exercise, and many others, that we are ready to defend [South Korea].”

With Pyongyang and Washington trading bellicose threats against one another’s territories, 72 percent of US citizens are worried the US will go to war during the next four years, according to a Thursday NBC News/Survey Monkey poll. Approximately 54 percent of survey respondents were most concerned by the North Korean threat, a figure that’s jumped 13 percentage points since July, Axios’ Eric Pandey observed.