Article Posted on : - Jul 20, 2010

A file photo of USS George Washington

SEOUL (BNS): The nuclear-powered aircraft - carrier USS George Washington will make a port call in South Korea Wednesday, ahead of a joint naval drill in the East Sea next week.

The 97,000-ton ship based in Yokosuka, Japan, will arrive at South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan with some 60 aircrafts, including F-18 Super Hornets, news agency Yonhap said.

The report quoting the US military said, three destroyers from the US carrier's strike group, including the USS McCampbell and the USS John S McCain, will also arrive in South Korea on the same day.

SKorea and the US have agreed to stage a massive naval drill in a show of force to North Korea following the sinking of South Korean warship Cheonan in which 46 sailors were killed.

The exercise involving USS George Washington was originally to be held in the Yellow Sea, where the Cheonan was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine. However, the location was changed to the East Sea on the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula after China's objections to the drill near its territorial waters.

Details about the drill and other future joint military exercises are expected to be announced, when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates hold talks with their South Korean counterparts Wednesday, the report said.