F-35B Lightning IIs aboard USS Makin Island (LHD-8), along with about 12,000 Sailors and Marines from the United States and South Korea are taking part in the 2023 Ssangyong exercise. 
 
After North Korea's provocative actions, including the testing of four long-range cruise missiles, South Korean and U.S. troops carried out their largest amphibious landing drills in years. 
 
USS Makin Island docked at a naval base in the southeastern port city of Busan on Wednesday to join the exercise, which kicked off on Monday near Pohang on South Korea's east coast and is scheduled to last until April 3.