According to authorities speaking to media on Tuesday, the US will send submarines to South Korea equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles. The deployment is probably intended to reassure the South Korean population, who just learned that the US routinely spied on their government, as well as to dissuade North Korea from conducting more missile launches.
The formal announcement of the proposal will be made on Wednesday at the White House by U.S. President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, according to the officials’ statements to many US media outlets.
U.S. to send nuclear submarine to South Korea for first time in 40 years
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The Washington Declaration
The ‘Washington Declaration,’ which both leaders are set to sign, calls for more information sharing and cooperative military drills as the US rotates nuclear-armed aircraft and submarines to South Korea.
One of the unnamed officials added, “We aim to take efforts to make our deterrent more obvious by the frequent deployment of strategic assets, including a US nuclear ballistic submarine visit to South Korea, which has not occurred since the early 1980s. The action was contrasted to “what we did with European allies during the height of the Cold War in similar periods of potential external threat,” alluding to the North’s missile program.
Since the start of 2022, Pyongyang has tested more than 100 missiles, including a nuclear-capable undersea attack drone and its first intercontinental ballistic missile using solid fuel. Since last year, officials in Washington and Seoul have asserted that the North is preparing for its sixth nuclear bomb underground test.
North Korea often reacts to U.S. deployments close to its territory with rhetorical threats, its own exercises, or fresh missile tests.
In addition to preventing North Korean aggression, the deployment of nuclear-capable submarines to the south is probably meant to mend strained ties between Washington and Seoul, which were shattered by the recent disclosure of Pentagon documents revealing US espionage on senior South Korean officials to ascertain their stance on arming Ukraine.
According to the person, the U.S. wants to remind Seoul that its “commitment” to the nation is “unquestionable” by implementing these new measures.
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