US deploys nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea in show of force against N Korea
The United States deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in four decades.
Periodic visits by US nuclear ballistic missile-capable submarines to South Korea were one of several agreements reached by the two countries’ presidents in April in response to North Korea’s expanding nuclear threat. They also agreed to establish a bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group and expand military exercises.
The USS Kentucky, an Ohio-class submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday afternoon, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said. It is the first visit by a US nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea since the 1980s, it said, AP reported.
Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup called the submarine’s visit a demonstration of US resolve in implementing its “extended deterrence” commitment, a pledge by the US to use its full military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to protect its allies, the ministry said in a statement.
He said the submarine’s visit “shows the allies’ overwhelming capability and posture against North Korea.”
During the Cold War in the late 1970s, US nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines made frequent visits to South Korea, sometimes two or three times per month, according to the Federation of American Scientists. It was a period when the US had hundreds of nuclear warheads located in South Korea. But in 1991, the United States withdrew all of its nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons in conflicts with its rivals and conducted about 100 missile tests since the start of last year. Last week, North Korea conducted a second test of a more mobile and powerful intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the mainland United States. After observing that launch, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to further strengthen his country’s nuclear combat capabilities.
Also on Tuesday, South Korean and US officials held the inaugural meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group in Seoul to discuss ways to strengthen deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear threats.
In a statement Monday, Kim’s powerful sister and senior adviser, Kim Yo-jong, warned that US moves to reinforce its extended deterrence commitment to South Korea will make North Korea “go farther away from the negotiating table desired by (the US)” and beef up its own military capability.
“(North Korea) is ready for resolutely countering any acts of violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Kim Yo-jong said. “The US should stop its foolish act of provoking (North Korea) even by imperiling its security.”