Story highlights Trilateral war games being conducted by South Korea, Australia and the US

Drills focus on stopping North Korea's WMD capability

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) The US, Australian and South Korean navies are conducting joint exercises off South Korea intended to simulate the interception of shipments of nuclear material meant for North Korea.

The drills, held Monday and Tuesday off South Korea's Jeju Island, come as US President Donald Trump visits the region for talks which are expected to be dominated by discussion of North Korea.

Pyongyang is regularly angered by co-ordinated drills in the region, which it sees as practice for an invasion, but which the US and its allies say is necessary to counter North Korean aggression. These ones are likely to be no different.

"This drill is to stop the shipment of North Korea's nuclear and WMD (weapons of mass destruction) materials in and out through combined navy drill between allies, and to carry out the UNSC (United Nations Security Council) resolution against North Korea's illegal actions of provocation," South Korean navy Rear Adm. Choi Sung-mok, chief of staff for the South Korean fleet said.

He added that "through this training, the Navy will continue to strengthen the capability to carry out the joint drill as a preparation against various threats that can happen in the sea."

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