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| This photo, released by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), shows U.S. fighters taking off from the USS Nimitz during a visit by JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to inspect South Korean and U.S. Navies' joint drill on seas off South Korea's Jeju Island, 465 kilometers south of Seoul, March 27. Yonhap |
Pyongyang fires two short-range ballistic missiles
By Kang Seung-woo
A U.S. Navy carrier strike group will arrive in Busan, Tuesday, as part of efforts to bolster the two countries' combined military posture as well as promoting South Korea-U.S. friendship on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of their alliance, Seoul's defense ministry said, Monday.
"The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG 11) will pull into a naval base in Busan tomorrow," Ministry of Defense spokesman Jeon Ha-kyou said at a briefing.
The CSG 11 is comprised of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Decatur.
It will be the first visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to South Korea since September last year when the USS Ronald Reagan arrived in the port city for combined drills with the South Korean Navy. The visit was the first in five years.
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| The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, including the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, second from left, and South Korean Naval warships, hold combined maritime drills in open waters south of the Korean Peninsula, Monday. Courtesy of Republic of Korea Navy |
The defense ministry said in a statement that the strike group's port call is part of fulfilling a series of agreements between South Korea and the United States on the timely, coordinated deployment of U.S. strategic military assets to the Korean Peninsula and Washington's extended deterrence commitment to defending the South against North Korea's escalating nuclear threats.
Strategic assets refer to long-range bombers, nuclear-powered submarines or aircraft carriers, while extended deterrence refers to the commitment to use nuclear weapons to thwart attacks on U.S. allies.
Ahead of the port call, the U.S. strike group staged joint maritime drills with the ROKS Sejong the Great and ROKS Choe Yeong in open waters south of Jeju Island, Monday, as part of Warrior Shield, an ongoing joint field training exercise.
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| A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observing a cruise missile exercise conducted in Jakdo-dong, South Hamgyong Province, Wednesday. EPA-Yonhap |
While the strike group is in port, there will be various events to promote friendship between the two countries, such as mutual visits to each other's naval vessels and a reception to be held aboard the aircraft carrier.
In addition, U.S. sailors plan to visit the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan and the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to pay tribute to those who died during the 1950-53 Korean War and get a full understanding of the security situation on the peninsula.
Meanwhile, one day ahead of the U.S. aircraft carrier's arrival, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea from the Chunghwa County area in North Hwanghae Province between 7:47 a.m. and 8 a.m., according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The latest provocation by the Kim Jong-un regime is seen as Pyongyang's protest against the U.S. aircraft carrier's visit to the peninsula.
On March 16, Pyongyang fired a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), followed by what it claims to be two "strategic cruise missiles" from a submarine, March 22.
It also tested a new underwater nuclear weapon from March 21 to 23.
