The San Diego-based aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and three escort ships arrived yesterday in South Korea for routine port visits, the Navy said.

The Reagan and its carrier air wing docked in Busan along with the cruiser Chancellorsville. The destroyers Decatur and Howard dropped anchor in Chinhae.

Most of the ships' 5,500 crew members are free to visit bars, restaurants and tourist spots. About 240 of them will join in goodwill projects at Korean schools, nursing homes and orphanages, the Navy said.

The Reagan carrier strike group left San Diego in May for a seven-month deployment that is likely to include time in the Persian Gulf. Last month, the ships provided disaster relief in the Philippines after Typhoon Fengshen, which struck the country June 21 and killed nearly 1,500 people. –S.L.