If North Korea misjudges the security situation on the peninsula and makes a provocation, it will be overwhelmingly responded to by the allies, he said.

The Foal Eagle exercise started March 1 and will run through the end of April. On Monday, the Key Resolve computer-simulated command post exercise began and will run through March 24.

Seoul and Washington said the joint drills are purely defensive, but Pyongyang has denounced them as a rehearsal for an invasion.    

The Carl Vinson is scheduled to arrive in the southern port of Busan, 453 kilometers south of Seoul, on Wednesday to join the exercises, according to the defense ministry. (Yonhap)