A US aircraft carrier group has arrived in South Korean waters for a visit likely to upset North Korea.

South Korean navy officials say the USS George Washington is anchored just outside the southern port of Busan for an international fleet exhibit, and will come into port on Tuesday before leaving on Friday.

But Pyongyang sees such events as military provocations.

Last July when the USS Ronald Reagan carrier group visited South Korea, Pyongyang said the visit was aimed at putting pressure on it to keep pace with diplomatic dialogue on nuclear disarmamanet.

USS Washington's visit comes just days after the US sent a senior diplomat to North Korea in a last-ditch attempt to save the disarmament-for-aid-deal and to stop Pyongyang from rebuilding its nuclear-arms plant.