North Korea’s state media condemned a US military exercise in the Western Pacific Ocean involving F/A-18 Hornet combat jets taking off from a US aircraft carrier on May 3.

This US Navy video shows the fighter jets flying over American and South Korean ships in the Sea of Japan.

The USS Carl Vinson arrived in the region on April 28 and held joint drills with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. A US missile defense system, THAAD, also became operational in South Korea following missile launches in North Korea.

Pyongyang described US military drills as “reckless military provocation” that would put the Korean peninsula “close to the brink of nuclear war,” CNN quoted North Korean state media KCNA.