NORTH Korea today slammed the United States for sending aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean Peninsula as the “last-ditch efforts of the US driven to the tight corner” by Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

The US nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt, nuclear submarines Tucson and Michigan and B-1B strategic bombers are heading toward South Korea and its vicinity for planned war games.

“It is (US President Donald) Trump’s wicked intention to check the North Korea’s strategic measures for rounding off the state nuclear force by making a fuss about something serious happening and aggravate tension to the maximum,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary.

The United States and South Korea yesterday kicked off a large-scale naval joint drills off the waters of the Korean Peninsula with the participation of a nuclear strike group, a nuclear submarine and tens of thousands of troops from both sides. – Bernama, October 17, 2017.