Yoon said the visit "demonstrates the U.S.'s routine deployment of strategic assets and the will of the two countries to defend the ability to execute extended deterrence." Travis King, darted across the DMZ in Panmunjon into North Korea where he is now believed to be in the custody of North Korean authorities. The tensions with North Korea have been evident this week as an American soldier, Army Pvt. On Thursday, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam warned that the sub's visit posed a threat to North Korea and might fall under that country's conditions for the use of nuclear weapons. Shortly after the submarine's arrival in Busan on Tuesday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent response to the rare port of call. It assures our allies and it deters any potential adversaries," Rear Admiral Chris Cavanaugh, Commander, Submarine Group 7, told Raddatz in an interview aboard the USS Kentucky. "It represents our enduring relationship with the Republic of Korea, our security commitment and our extended deterrence. The deployments of these submarines are highly classified and it is extremely rare for them to make a port of call, but the Kentucky's visit realized a commitment made in April by President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol that an American ballistic missile submarine would visit South Korea in a demonstration of U.S. Navy does not say if there are nuclear weapons aboard its Ohio-class submarines but it is no secret that the submarines can carry hundreds of nuclear warheads atop those missiles, making up about 70% of the nation's active nuclear arsenal allowed by the New START Treaty. Navy submarines capable of launching 20 Trident 2 D5 missiles, each armed with multiple targeted warheads capable of striking targets up to 4,000 miles away.Īs a standard practice the U.S. More than two football fields in length, the USS Kentucky (SSBN 737) is one of 14 Ohio Class U.S. The rare public visit is intended to demonstrate America's security commitment to South Korea and to deter North Korea.ĪBC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz was given exclusive access to the USS Kentucky in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday, the only American journalist allowed to visit the submarine during its port of call in South Korea.īusan, South Korea's largest port, is located in the most southeasterly point of the Korean peninsula and is more than 200 miles south of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) that serves as the border with North Korea. Navy submarine in Busan, South Korea, marked the first time that a submarine capable of carrying up to 20 nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles had made a port of call in South Korea. BUSAN, South Korea - This week's arrival of a nuclear-capable U.S.
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