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A US aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson is on its way to join South Korean forces for military exercises.

But North Korea has warned America if the ships infringe on its “sovereignty or dignity”.

The Communist regime’s propaganda mouth piece warned of “merciless” attacks from the land, air and sea if the strike group enters its waters.

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Referring to the Hermit Kingdom by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the state-operated KCNA news agency said: "If they infringe on the DPRK's sovereignty and dignity even a bit, its army will launch merciless ultra-precision strikes from ground, air, sea and underwater.

"On March 11 alone, many enemy carrier-based aircraft flew along a course near territorial air and waters of the DPRK to stage drills of dropping bombs and making surprise attacks on the ground targets of its army.”

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A US Navy spokesman said the USS Carl Vinson was on a regular, scheduled deployment to the region during which it would take part in exercises with the forces of ally South Korea.

Last week, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan in response to annual US-South Korea military drills – which the North sees as preparation for war.

US president Donald Trump is re-evaluating its North Korea strategy and "all options are on the table”, the US ambassador to the United Nations said last week.

East Asia is teetering on the brink of World War 3, after the US sent an advanced anti-missile system to South Korea last week.

The US and South Korea say the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system is for defence against North Korea.

But China fears its powerful radar can probe deep into its territory and compromise its security.

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America began to deploy the system a week ago – a day after North Korea launched its latest four missile tests.

South Korean and US troops began the large-scale joint drills, which are billed as defensive in nature, on March 1.

The exercise last year involved about 17,000 American troops and more than 300,000 South Koreans.

South Korea has said this year's exercise would be of a similar scale.

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China has also repeatedly expressed concern about the US-South Korean exercises, saying they do nothing to ease tension.

The US has also started to deploy "Gray Eagle" attack drones to South Korea, a US military spokesman said on Monday.

But doomsdayers fear if North Korea feels threated by the drills, it could launch a pre-emptive attack.