A US nuclear submarine is calling at a South Korean port for the first time in 40 years, a White House official said Tuesday, as allies prepare to counter mounting military threats from North Korea.
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Relations between the two Koreas are at an all-time low, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is calling for increased development of weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons.
Seoul and Washington have stepped up defense cooperation and held joint military exercises.
On Tuesday, they held the first meeting of the Nuclear Advisory Group (NCG) in Seoul, which aims to improve nuclear coordination between the two allies and strengthen military readiness against North Korea.
“As we speak, a U.S. nuclear submarine docked at Busan today, the first visit by a U.S. nuclear submarine in decades,” White House Indo-Pacific Region Coordinator Kurt Campbell told reporters the meeting.
The last time Washington deployed one of its nuclear-capable submarines to South Korea was in 1981.
Washington announced in April, without giving a date, that it would station a ballistic missile-launching submarine on the Korean Peninsula.
The announcement came during an official visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to the United States.
“The US side has demonstrated its firm determination that in the event of a nuclear attack by the North on the South, immediate, overwhelming and decisive countermeasures will be taken, leading to the overthrow of his regime,” he told the press Kim Tae-Hyo, the national security adviser who co-chaired the NCG meeting with Mr. Campbell.
North Korea is opposed to the stationing of US nuclear weapons around the Korean Peninsula.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of ruler Kim Jong Un, said Monday that such actions would only “further increase the distance (Pyongyang)” to possible talks. North Korea is “ready to resolutely oppose any violation of its sovereignty,” said Kim Yo Jong, who described the talks with the US as a “daydream.”