Seoul: The US on Friday deployed a nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying about 150 Tomahawk missiles to South Korea. A day earlier, North Korea started conducting missile tests again in protest of the US-South Korea exercise. According to South Korean officials, the deployment is in response to a bilateral agreement to increase the display of US strategic weapons on the Korean peninsula at regular intervals and the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear programs and is the first time in 6 years that the USS Michigan has reached South Korea.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the deployment of the USS Michigan will allow the US and South Korean navies to conduct exercises to enhance their special operations capabilities and joint capability to address the growing nuclear threat from North Korea. The US submarine arrived in the southeast port of Busan, the ministry said, but did not say how long the submarine would remain in South Korea’s territorial waters. South Korea and the US militaries have exchanged fire in response to North Korea’s ramped up nuclear tests since last year. has expanded its military practice.
North Korea argues that its adversary has increased military exercises, in response to which it has also increased its testing activities. North Korea describes this military exercise of both countries as a rehearsal for the purpose of invasion. However, experts say that North Korea’s ultimate goal is to modernize its weapons and use it in diplomacy. After meeting in Washington in April, President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed that the United States would increase its “strategic weapons displays on the Korean Peninsula at regular intervals.” Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, condemned the agreement reached during the Biden-Yoon meeting and threatened to further increase her country’s nuclear power.
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