A US submarine capable of carrying nuclear weapons has docked in South Korea for the first time in forty years, as nuclear war threats grow louder.
This comes as North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un test fired his most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile yet last week.
While the US has been staging joint war exercises with South Korea and Japan, the arrival of its 18,750 tonne USS Kentucky has been considered an acute provocation by North Korea.
The 170 metre long submarine entered the naval base in Busam, 320 kilometres southeast of Seoul, South Korean officials have confirmed.
Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched from an undisclosed location in North Korea in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on July 13, 2023.
KCNA via Reuters
One of the largest nuclear-capable submarines in the world, the USS Kentucky can carry more than 20 Trident-II ballistic missiles.
The arrival coincided with the first meeting of the Nuclear Consultive Group (NCG) between representatives of the US and South Korea.
Held in Seoul, the meeting discussed on “bolstering nuclear deterrence against North Korea.”
White House Indo-Pacific coordinator, Kurt Campbell, told the press: "As we speak, an American nuclear submarine is making port in Busan today.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chuffed as Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched from an undisclosed location in North Korea in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on July 13, 2023.
KCNA via Reuters
"That's the first visit of an American nuclear submarine in decades."
The last time a US nuclear-capable submarine was to South Kortea was in 1981.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong-un and brawn behind the operation, said: "It is a daydream for the US to think that it can stop the advance of the DPRK... and achieve irreversible disarmament through the interim suspension of joint military exercises."
Instead, Kim Yo Jong has beat the drum of escalating military capacity, claiming that the best way to deter the US was with a show of strength "rather than solving the problem with the gangster-like Americans in a friendly manner."
NORTH KOREA LATEST:
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and first vice department director of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, looks on at the Metropole hotel during the second North Korea-U.S. summit in Hanoi, Vietnam February 28, 2019.
Reuters/Leah Millis/File Photo
Unperturbed, the US has pledged more assets to South Korea, such as aircraft carriers, submarines and long-range bombers.
South Korean Defense Minister, Lee Jong-sup, said: "To North Korea, it shows the overwhelming capabilities and posture of the alliance, while it demonstrates the solid combined defence posture of South Korea and the United States to our people and the international community."
Tensions have been rising on Tuesday, with a US soldier being held in North Korea after crossing the border without authorisation.
Named by CBS News as Private 2nd Class Travis King, the broadcaster claims the soldier was being escorted back to the US for disciplinary reasons before he made a dart for North Korea.
Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo and U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell pose for photographs during a press conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, July 18, 2023.
Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool
Witnesses told the channel that the soldier was seen at the airport before dashing away, later joining a border tour from which he hopped across to North Korea.
One witness told CBS News: "I thought it was a bad joke at first, but when he didn't come back, I realised it wasn't a joke.”
The UN Command, which operates the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, said: “A US national on a JSA orientation tour crossed, without authorisation, the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our Korean People's Army (KPA) counterparts to resolve this incident.”
There are allegedly 28,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, making it home to America's third-largest foreign military presence after Japan and Germany, according to a Reuters report from 2021.
