- Seoul, Washington step up cooperation citing threats from the North.
- US nuclear submarine making port in Busan today: White House
- “A decisive answer will be given to the aggression of the North on the South.”
As North Korea has increased the frequency of its long-range missile tests, raising tensions in the region, a US nuclear-capable submarine visited South Korea for the first time in more than four decades, according to the White House. an official said on Tuesday. In a show of strength.
Bilateral relations between the South and the North are at an all-time low with no top-level communication as Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un has urged increased weapons development, including strategic ones.
Citing the threats, Seoul and Washington have stepped up military cooperation, holding joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and US strategic assets.
He held the first Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) meeting in the South Korean capital on Tuesday, aimed at improving nuclear coordination between the two countries and boosting preparations for war against North Korea.
“As we speak, a US nuclear submarine is making port in Busan today, the first visit by a US nuclear submarine in decades,” White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell told reporters after the meeting.
The last time Washington deployed one of its nuclear-capable submarines to South Korea was in 1981.
Washington announced it would deploy a submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads to the Korean Peninsula in April while South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was on a state visit, but did not specify a timeline.
National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo said, “The US side demonstrated its determination that if the North attacks the South with nuclear weapons, it will retaliate immediately, forcefully and decisively, which will put an end to its rule.” ” -chaired the NCG meeting with Campbell, told reporters.
North Korea shies away from deploying US nuclear assets around the Korean Peninsula.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Monday that such actions would only drive the (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) further away from possible talks.
North Korea is “ready to resolutely counter any act of violation of its sovereignty”, Kim Yo Jong said, dismissing talks with the United States as a “daydream”.
