US nuclear-powered submarine arrives at South Korean port
A nuclear-powered US Navy submarine arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan on Friday, Seoul's military has said, a day after the US and South Korea held joint military drills in the Korean peninsula.
This is the first time in nearly six years that a submarine classified as "SSGN", or a cruise-missile submarine, has stopped off in a port in South Korea.
In a statement, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced that by calling the submarine to the port in Busan, Seoul, and Washington intend to “test their special warfare capabilities and interoperability" to respond to what they call "the growing threats” from North Korea through joint warfare exercises.
According to the JCS, the 18,000-ton submarine is about 170 meters (560 feet) long and can be armed with 150 Tomahawk missiles with a range of 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles).
Back in April, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden agreed in Washington to "further enhance the regular visibility of strategic assets" on the Korean Peninsula.
Washington's "commitment to extend deterrence to South Korea is backed by the full range of US capabilities, including nuclear", South Korea's Fleet Commander Kim Myung-soo said, adding that the submarine's arrival was “intended to substantively implement the Washington Declaration... to enhance the regular visibility of US strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula."
It comes after South Korean and US troops held joint live-fire exercises in the region on Thursday. A total of 2,500 troops took part in the maneuvers in Pocheon, northeast of Seoul.
Pyongyang considers all of the US-South Korean drills a rehearsal for invasion, describing them as "frantic" drills "simulating an all-out war against Pyongyang."
North Korea released a statement on Thursday, with a defense ministry spokesperson saying the exercises were “targeting the DPRK (North Korea) by massively mobilizing various types of offensive weapons and equipment.”
“Our response to this is inevitable,” said the statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
It said the drills were “escalating the military tension in the region.”
Meanwhile, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles after several thousand South Korean and US troops held joint live-fire exercises in the Korean Peninsula.
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