US Nuclear Powered Submarine Arrives In South Korea
The United States nuclear powered submarine (SSGN) arrived in South Korea on Friday, June 16, 2023 for the first time in six years, said the South Korean Ministry of Defense.
The cruise missile submarine arrived in South Korea amid heightened tensions following North Korea's launch of two ballistic missiles the previous day.
The Ohio-class SSGN USS Michigan entered a major naval base in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday in protest at a massive South Korea-US direct-fire drill that ended earlier on that day.
The submarine's presence marks the first time the US has sent SSGNs to South Korea since October 2017. The submarines are scheduled to remain in South Korea until next Thursday, an anonymous South Korean defense official told reporters.
The presence of the submarines, a key US Navy asset, comes after the US pledged to further increase the "regular visibility" of strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula through the Washington Declaration issued by President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden during their meeting in Washington in April.
"The visit of the US SSGN to South Korea is aimed at substantively implementing the agreements in the Washington Declaration made in April to enhance the regular visibility of strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula," said ROK Deputy Fleet Commander Admiral Kim Myung-soo.
ROK is an abbreviation of the official name of South Korea, Republic of Korea.
During the submarine's visit to the country, the South Korean and US navies plan to conduct joint special operations exercises to strengthen their interoperability and capabilities in the operation.
This was done in response to North Korea's growing threat, according to the ministry.
The SSGN will also take part in various friendly exchange activities with the South Korean Navy to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the alliance between the two countries.
The SSGN Michigan was commissioned in 1982 as a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, and was converted to the SSGN in 2007. The submarine can carry out attack missions using Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The 18,000-tonne SSGN is 170 meters long and can be armed with more than 150 Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of 2,500 kilometers, according to the ministry.
On Thursday, the two allied countries concluded the fifth and final round of Joint Joint Direct Fire Exercises, the first of such type of exercise in six years.
The exercise took place at a training ground near the inter-Korean border to mark the alliance's important anniversary.
As part of the Washington Declaration, the US promised to send a nuclear ballistic missile submarine to the country on a visit.
