U.S. carrier in South Korea, likely to irk North

With Rio de Janeiro's famous Sugar Loaf mountain as a backdrop, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) arrives in port, April 22, 2008.

SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier group arrived in South Korean waters on Monday for a visit likely to upset prickly North Korea, which has said it sees such events as military provocations that undermine nuclear disarmament talks.

The visit of the USS George Washington came after the United States sent a senior diplomat to North Korea last week in a last-ditch attempt to save a crumbling disarmament-for-aid-deal and stop Pyongyang from rebuilding its nuclear-arms plant.

The carrier group was anchored just outside the southern port of Busan for an international fleet exhibit, South Korean navy officials said. It will come into port on Tuesday and leave on Friday.

When the USS Ronald Reagan carrier group visited South Korea in July, the North's official media said the United States "was deliberately aggravating the situation." U.S. military officials said it was a routine visit.

"Its behavior is prompted by its calculation that if its military pressure and threat are escalated to keep pace with its diplomatic dialogue, it can discourage its rival ... and boost its negotiating position," the North's media said in July.

North Korea has not yet commented on the arrival of the George Washington carrier group.

In recent weeks, North Korea has made initial steps toward restarting its aging Yongbyon nuclear plant, which was being disabled under the disarmament deal North Korea reached with five regional powers, U.S. and South Korean officials have said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill left Pyongyang last Friday but has not discussed whether he made any progress during three days of talks in the North Korean capital on the nuclear deal.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz and Kim Junghyun; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Sanjeev Miglani)