USS Kentucky Submarine Departs After Interdiction Signal For Pyeon – DW – 07/21/2023

He USS Kentucky It arrived last Tuesday from the port of Busan, about 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to South Korean agency Yonhap. The USS Kentucky’s visit to South Korea by a nuclear submarine capable of carrying nuclear-powered ballistic missiles (SSBNs) since the 1980s comes against a backdrop of renewed tensions and military cooperation on the Korean Peninsula. Washington and Seoul.

In a declaration signed in April by the presidents of the United States and South Korea, Joe Biden and Yoon Suk-yeol, Washington pledged to strengthen the so-called “extended deterrence.” Seeks to discourage Pyongyang The development of weapons of mass destruction must go ahead.

Among the elements called for strengthening “extended deterrence” is the creation of the Nuclear Advisory Council, a mechanism to coordinate U.S. responses to potential North Korean attacks, including a nuclear option.

Seoul defended the submarine’s arrival on Friday as a “legitimate response” to North Korean weapons tests and after Pyongyang expressed objections through a statement from its defense ministry.

The North Korean regime test-fired its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-18.

The North Korean regime said the USS Kentucky’s visit posed a “direct nuclear threat” and accused Seoul and Washington of discussing “plans to use nuclear weapons” against Pyongyang at a meeting of the Nuclear Advisory Council last Wednesday.

Pyongyang had already warned last week that the submarine’s presence would increase regional tensions, and South Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan (known as the East Sea in both Koreas) last Wednesday in response to the arrival of the military asset.

Last week, the North Korean regime also test-fired its advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-18 for the second time.

Tensions have risen again on the Korean Peninsula following the failure of 2019 denuclearization talks, Pyongyang has rejected any dialogue and conducted a record number of missile tests, and Seoul and Washington are resuming their massive joint exercises and continuing to deploy US strategic assets in the region.

jov (efe, reuters, usninews)