US nuclear-armed submarine docks in South Korea for first time since 1981

An American nuclear-armed submarine has docked in South Korea for the first time in four decades, said a White House official, on Tuesday (July 18) amid a rise in tensions on the Korean peninsula and North Korea’s growing military threats.

Washington sends its nuclear-capable sub to South Korea

“As we speak, an American nuclear submarine is making port in Busan today,” Kurt Campbell, the White House Indo-Pacific coordinator told reporters in Seoul while there for the first Nuclear Consultative Group discussion with South Korean officials.

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Notably, the last time Washington deployed one of its nuclear-capable submarines to South Korea was in 1981.

This comes months after the US had agreed to periodically deploy nuclear-armed subs in South Korea in a bid to counter North Korea’s growing aggression. The submarine, making the port call, is an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, identified by South Korean officials as the USS Kentucky.

The US military, in a statement, on Tuesday said that the sub, “reflects the United States’ ironclad commitment to the Republic of Korea for our extended deterrence guarantee,” referring to South Korea by its official name.

Why now?

The announcement was first made when US President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, met in Washington back in April. The leaders had sought to assure worried South Koreans that the US would defend its ally from North Korea amid Pyongyang’s growing nuclear arsenal.

During his visit, Yoon reaffirmed South Korea’s policy of not developing nuclear weapons and the two leaders announced a ‘Washington Declaration’. In line with this, Biden said any nuclear attack by the North against the South would prompt Washington to take “a swift, overwhelming and decisive response,” with “the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear.”

This was months after Yoon told reporters that if Pyongyang’s programme “gets worse” then Seoul will also “introduce tactical nuclear weapons or build them on our own,” becoming the first South Korean president in decades to discuss the issue, alarming officials in the US.

North Korea warns against ‘foolish act’

On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong said, “The U.S. should stop its foolish act of provoking the DPRK even by imperilling its security,” as quoted by the state news agency KCNA.

After White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan expressed concern that North Korea may conduct another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test.

She also criticised the US decision to send the nuclear-armed submarine and warned that such efforts to increase “extended deterrence” would push Pyongyang further from the negotiating table.

Last week, Pyongyang fired a suspected ICBM, which flew for more than an hour before landing near Japanese waters. The launch, criticised by the West, was also North Korea’s 15th, since the beginning of this year.

(With inputs from agencies)

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