N. Korean state media makes 1st mention of US aircraft carrier in S. Korean waters

Published : Apr 30, 2017 - 21:37 Updated : May 1, 2017 - 09:29

The North Korean state media on Sunday made its first mention of a US aircraft carrier that has taken part in a joint exercise here with the South Korean Navy.

The Korean Central News Agency reported that USS Carl Vinson was "hurled into the saber-rattling" exercise between the United States and South Korea in the East Sea on Saturday.

USS Carl Vinson (center), a US aircraft carrier, leads the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels during a joint exercise. (US Navy)

The nuclear-powered supercarrier was part of the joint naval drill held under heightened tensions on the peninsula, in light of the North's failed ballistic missile launch earlier Saturday.

"The US imperialists and the (South Korean) puppet warmongers claim the exercise is a missile warning drill for detecting, tracking and intercepting missiles of the DPRK," the KCNA's English-language report stated, referring to the North's by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The short dispatch had no further comment on the USS Carl Vinson. North Korea previously threatened to turn the supercarrier "into a mass of scrap metal" through its propaganda website, Uriminzokkiri. (Yonhap)