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America and South Korea have joined forces in a show of military strength against North Korea as the troubled country accused Donald Trump of "begging" for war.

The US President is in Vietnam for an economic summit in Vietnam but his first visit to Asia has been dominated by discussions of the North Korean nuclear threat.

The United States and South Korea started joint naval exercises today, which military experts have said is a clear warning to North Korea.

Three US aircraft carriers are involved in the four-day drills, which started in waters off South Korea’s eastern coast.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: REUTERS)

The defiant show comes as officials from North Korea called Trump a "destroyer of world peace" and claimed he had begged for a nuclear war.

North Korea's foreign ministry spokesman said, in a statement carried by the state news agency: "Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula."

Trump had warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: EPA)

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang - the North Korean capital - from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.

The battle groups of the USS Ronald Reagan, the Theodore Roosevelt and the Nimitz will successively enter the exercise area during the drills that run until Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Eleven US missile ships and seven South Korean naval vessels will also take part.

The exercises aim to enhance combined operation and aerial strike capabilities and also display “strong will and firm military readiness to defeat any provocation by North Korea with dominant force in the event of crisis,” Seoul’s military said in a statement.

It’s the first time since a 2007 exercise near Guam that three US carrier strike groups are operating together in the Western Pacific, according to the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, the New York Times reported.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: AFP)

North Korea has been testing intercontinental ballistic missiles in recent months, which could be capable of reaching mainland America.

Trump continued to speak out against Pyongyang during a speech to business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Danang, Vietnam, on Friday.

He told the leaders the area's future “must not be held hostage to a dictator’s twisted fantasies of violent conquest and nuclear blackmail,” referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

He also sent a strong warning to Norht Korea in a speech to South Korea's parliament earlier in the week when he said: "“Do not underestimate us. And do not try us.”

Trump has previously branded Kim Jong Un 'Rocket Man' on a suicide mission while Kim Jung Un called Trump "mentally deranged" and accused him of trying to "blackmail all countries of the world."