US aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk arrived at the South Korean southeastern port city of Busan Monday to take part in joint military exercises by South Korean and US military forces, reported South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

Six destroyers and cruisers such as USS Cowpens and USS Vincennes accompanied the aircraft carrier as parts of the Kitty Hawk Strike Group and made a port call at Busan port, some 460 kilometers southeast to Seoul, Yonhap quoted sources at the US military as reporting.

Kitty Hawk, one of 12 flattops in the US naval fleet, can carry 5,200 sailors and 60 aircraft including F-18 Super Hornets.

The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command to conduct the annual military games, named Foal Eagle and RSOI (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration) 05, during March 19 and March 25.

Some 17,000 US troops will attend the drill, 11,000 of them from overseas bases.

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2005)