The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has entered international waters between South Korea and Japan to conduct bilateral exercises with Tokyo, the U.S. Navy confirmed to NK News on Tuesday.

The warship’s arrival comes weeks after a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) landed in waters off Japan and marks the first time a U.S. aircraft carrier has entered the East Sea (Sea of Japan) since Nov. 2017, when three carriers gathered in response to a series of ICBM and nuclear tests by Pyongyang.