South Korea and its ally the United States on Monday began a two-day joint naval exercises off the country's east coast involving a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier, a move which is likely to provoke North Korea.

The 97,000-ton USS Nimitz left South Korea's Busan port earlier in the day for the exercises with the country's Navy in the East Sea near Pohang. The Nimitz Strike Group consists of the aircraft carrier and guided-missile cruisers and destroyers, a senior military official said in Seoul.

The naval drill included missile detection, anti-submarine and anti-aircraft maneuvers. Details of naval powers mobilized in the drill were not disclosed, the Yonhap news agency reported quoting military officials.

Although Seoul and Washington have said the maneuvers are part of annual training and defensive in nature, North Korea has consistently denounced the arrival of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

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