US sends sub to S Korea in show of force against North

Seoul, July 18

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The United States deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in four decades, as the allies warned North Korea that any use of the North’s nuclear weapons in combat would result in the end of its regime.

Periodic visits by US nuclear ballistic missile-capable submarines to South Korea were one of several agreements reached by the two countries’ Presidents in April in response to North Korea’s expanding nuclear threat. They also agreed to establish a bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group and expand military exercises.

The USS Kentucky, an Ohio-class submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday afternoon, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said. It is the first visit by a US nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea since the 1980s, it said.

Defence Minister Lee Jong-Sup called the submarine’s visit a demonstration of US resolve in implementing its “extended deterrence” commitment, a pledge by the US to use its full military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to protect its allies, the ministry said in a statement. He said the submarine’s visit “shows the allies’ overwhelming capability and posture against North Korea”. — AP