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| South Korean delegates pose with U.S. officials inside the USS West Virginia, a U.S. Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, during their visit to the nuclear submarine training facilities at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia. Courtesy of South Korea's Ministry of Defense |
US considers deploying nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for drills in South Korea next month
By Jung Min-ho
South Korea and the United States have conducted a tabletop exercise on responding to possible North Korean nuclear attacks and reaffirmed pledges to do so every year as part of their joint efforts to reinforce deterrence capabilities, the allies said in a statement, Friday (KST).
In addition, Washington is also considering sending a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, among other strategic assets, to South Korea for Freedom Shield, a large-scale combined exercise planned for next month, military sources said.
"Both sides affirmed that the alliance stands ready to respond to the DPRK's (North Korea) nuclear threats," the South Korean and U.S. delegations said in the statement after the drill, known as DSC TTX, at the Pentagon. "The U.S. side highlighted that its 2022 Nuclear Posture Review states, "any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies and partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of that regime."
During that exercise, the allies discussed ways to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula, including "potential options" in the case of North Korea's nuclear weapons use.
"The United States will continue to field flexible nuclear forces suited to deterring regional nuclear conflict, including the capability to forward deploy strategic bombers, dual-capable fighter aircraft, and nuclear weapons to the region," the U.S. delegation said in the statement. "The United States will continue to work with the ROK (South Korea) to ensure an effective mix of capabilities, concepts, deployments, exercises, and tailored options to deter and, if necessary, respond to coercion and aggression by the DPRK."
After the DSC TTX, the delegations visited nuclear submarine training facilities in Georgia, where they were briefed on the mission of Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarines, which act as virtually undetectable undersea launch platforms for intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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| This photo, released Friday by North Korea's state media, shows the military test-firing a cruise missile during shooting drills in Kim Chaek in North Hamgyong Province, Thursday. Yonhap |
The very same day, North Korea announced that it test-fired four long-range cruise missiles in waters off its eastern coast in its latest provocation.
The launches, confirmed by South Korea's military, were intended to verify the reliability of the missiles and "war posture" of North Korea's nuclear combat unit, according to its state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"The four strategic cruise missiles precisely hit the preset target on the East Sea of Korea after traveling the 2,000 kilometer-long elliptical and eight-shaped flight orbits for 10,208 seconds to 10,224 seconds," the KCNA said of the weapons drills conducted the previous day in Kim Chaek, a city in North Hamgyong Province. "The drill clearly demonstrated once again the war posture of the DPRK nuclear combat force bolstering in every way its deadly nuclear counterattack capability against the hostile forces."
Speaking to The Korea Times, Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a think tank, said the range of the missiles was 200 kilometers longer than the ones test-launched on Jan. 25, 2022. Given North Korea's message that followed and the timing of the DSC TTX, he believes the North was sending a warning to the U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
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| U.S. B-1B bombers fly in formation with South Korea's F-35A fighter jets and U.S. F-16 fighter jets over South Korean waters during a joint air drill, Feb. 19. Courtesy of South Korea's Ministry of Defense |
Later that day, Kwon Jong-gun, director-general for U.S. affairs at North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, warned that, if Washington does not stop its "hostile action," Pyongyang will regard it as a "declaration of war." He also described the DSC TTX as a practice for "nuclear war against us."
"While strengthening the alliance with its followers, the U.S. is denying our sovereign rights unilaterally, which is blatant ignorance of and an unacceptable challenge to our country," he said in a statement. "The only way of easing tensions on and around the Korean Peninsula is for the U.S. to abandon the pledges to deploy its strategic assets for South Korea and to halt joint military exercises against the DPRK."
The regime has stepped up criticism of Washington in the past week. While test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile and short-range missiles before the latest provocation, it blamed the U.S. and South Korea for fueling tensions.
