Seoul, March 27 (IANS): South Korea and the US launched a large-scale joint maritime drill on Friday as part of their ongoing joint annual "Foal Eagle" war game, the South Korean Navy said.

The six-day manoeuvre was launched in South Korea's southern port city of Pohang, mobilising around 4,100 naval personnel and 3,500 marines of the two countries, Xinhua reported.

The drill came as part of the "Foal Eagle" field training exercise, which began on March 2 and will run until April 24. "Foal Eagle" involves around 200,000 South Korean and 3,700 US soldiers.

The maritime manoeuvre, which will run until April 1, mobilised about 30 naval ships and submarines, including a 14,500-tonne landing platform helicopter ship, a 7,600-tonne Aegis destroyer and a 1,200-tonne submarine from South Korea, apart from the 41,000-tonne amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard, the 25,000-tonne amphibious transport ship USS Green Bay and the 15,000-tonne amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland from the US.

About 80 aircraft and 40 amphibious armoured vehicles from the two countries will also be part of the manoeuvre.

The combined forces will be trained in maritime reconnaissance and infiltration as well as naval and air gunfire support to strengthen interoperability of the forces.