Al Jazeera //

North Korea signed a defense agreement with Russia a few days ago. After that, a US warship arrived in South Korea on Saturday. The nuclear-powered warship will take part in trilateral military exercises.

The country’s navy said in a statement that the warship had arrived in South Korea. It is said that the US Navy’s warship Theodore Roosevelt arrived at Busan Naval Base in South Korea on Saturday morning.

The South Korean statement added that the arrival of the warship further underscored the strong joint defense system of the US-South Korea alliance. At the same time, the two countries have shown their determination to respond to the growing threat of North Korea.

This US warship is scheduled to participate in a joint exercise with South Korea and Japan this month. Earlier, in a conference in August last year, the leaders of these three countries agreed to organize military training exercises every year.

The US warship arrived in South Korea at a time when the Russian ambassador to the country was summoned a day earlier. This week he was summoned to protest a joint defense agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang. The agreement was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Putin visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years.

After the agreement, Seoul said that the agreement between the two countries, which are isolated in the world, is a threat to the security of South Korea. In response, they may consider providing arms to Ukraine. Russia has been conducting military operations in neighboring Ukraine for more than two years.

North and South Korea have long had hostile relations. The South Korean military said that North Korean troops have recently increased military activity along the country’s border. Apart from this, the two countries have recently been involved in activities like sending balloons to each other’s territory.