Aboard the USS John C Stennis (CNN) With a deafening roar of jet engines and an explosion of steam, an F-18 Super Hornet catapults off the deck of the aircraft carrier, and veers up into the sky. Seconds later, another fighter jet shoots out down a parallel runway.

The aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis leads a strike group of approximately 8,400 pilots and sailors, three destroyers, a tanker ship as well as dozens of fighter jets, reconnaissance planes and helicopters.

On Monday, March 21, North Korea fired five short-range projectiles into the sea off the country's east coast. It follows the strengthening of sanctions against the country after it claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb earlier this year.

On Monday, March 21, North Korea fired five short-range projectiles into the sea off the country's east coast. It follows the strengthening of sanctions against the country after it claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb earlier this year.

North Korea sees the 8-week annual joint drill, Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, as a threat, claiming it's preparation for an invasion of the country by South Korean and U.S. forces.

North Korea sees the 8-week annual joint drill, Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, as a threat, claiming it's preparation for an invasion of the country by South Korean and U.S. forces.

The carrier arrived in the region in mid-March to participate in joint annual exercises between the U.S. and South Korea amid tension in the Korean peninsula.

The carrier arrived in the region in mid-March to participate in joint annual exercises between the U.S. and South Korea amid tension in the Korean peninsula.

An F/A-18 Super Hornet descends and lands on USS John C. Stennis, Saturday, March 19, 2016. Dozens of fighter jets and other aircraft are on board the carrier. It's leading a strike group of about 8,400 troops for military drills with North Korea.

An F/A-18 Super Hornet descends and lands on USS John C. Stennis, Saturday, March 19, 2016. Dozens of fighter jets and other aircraft are on board the carrier. It's leading a strike group of about 8,400 troops for military drills with North Korea.

At a time of great tension on the divided mainland , they are here to train with the South Korean military in choppy, freezing waters to the east of the Korean Peninsula.

This month, North Korea fired salvos of ballistic missiles twice in a period of eight days. In doing so, Pyongyang violated multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. The launches also alarmed key U.S. allies in the region. Both South Korea and Japan are well within range of North Korea's arsenal.

"Our role here is to hopefully provide deterrence to that sort of activity," says Rear Admiral Ronald Boxall, commander of the carrier strike group.

He speaks while seated on a bridge over-looking the flight deck, as fighter jets continue to blast off the carrier in rapid succession.

"We're also here to ensure that if we can't deter, we're here to defend and support the ironclad commitment we have with the Republic of Korea," he adds, referring to South Korea.

Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills South Korean and U.S. troops staged an amphibious assault Saturday, March 12 as U.S. and South Korean military units embarked on eight weeks of annual joint military exercises. Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills Clouds of camouflage smoke obscure amphibious assault vehicles coming into shore as part of military exercises on March 12. South Korea's defense ministry spokesman is calling the maneuvers "the largest scale ever," involving 300,000 South Korean soldiers and at least 17,000 from the U.S. Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills A South Korean Marine looks through a viewfinder on a sniper rifle on March 12. Marines and sailors stormed a beach aboard assault vehicles in a mock amphibious assault. Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills A South Korean Marine looks through his rifle's view finder on March 12 with an amphibious assault vehicle in the background. Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills A South Korea marine holds an assault rifle in the March 12 exercises. Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills Small detachments of forces from Australia and New Zealand also participated in Saturday's maneuvers. Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills South Korean Marines group crouch between two amphibious assault vehicles during the March 12th drill. Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills South Korean Marines points their weapons during the joint military exercises held on March 12. Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: South Korea, U.S. hold 'largest ever' drills Protesters call for a more peaceful atmosphere on the Korean peninsula as South Korea and U.S. troops hold joint military exercises on March 12. Hide Caption 9 of 9

Inevitably, the training season leads to saber-rattling on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone.

According to the South Korean defense ministry, North Korea fired around 90 ballistic missiles and rockets throughout the joint military exercise season in 2014.

South Korea responded by reactivating rows of massive speakers that blast anti-regime propaganda across the demilitarized zone into North Korea. Seoul also announced the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex , a series of factories jointly operated with North Korea located just north of the DMZ -- and a symbol of cooperation between the two Koreas.

North Korea remains defiant. Neither sanctions, international isolation, nor joint military war games in South Korea have succeeded in convincing Pyongyang to abandon their program to develop nuclear weapons.

Last Tuesday, the country's leader Kim Jong Un issued orders for his scientists and military to carry out a "nuclear warhead explosion test and a test-fire of several kinds of ballistic rockets able to carry nuclear warheads," according to the state news agency KCNA. The government's publicly-stated goal is to enhance nuclear attack capability.

"They're very dedicated to having those capabilities," says Troy University's Daniel Pinkston, who currently teaches international relations in Seoul.

"If [the nuclear weapons] are not reliable today, they're going to keep working so they'll be reliable so that they can use them if they need to use them tomorrow, or next month, or next year."

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While pushing forward with efforts to develop an arsenal of ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, North Korea continues to object to the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises.

"We are always prepared to go and do whatever we need to do to defend and commit to our partnership with the Republic of Korea," says Admiral Boxall, when asked about the North Korean accusations.