Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

 
  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Home The News News US sends another nuclear-propelled sub to South Korea

US sends another nuclear-propelled sub to South Korea

Tuesday, 25 July 2023 05:03 Taipei Times

A nuclear-propelled US submarine has arrived in South Korea in the second deployment of a major US naval asset to the Korean Peninsula this month, South Korea’s military said yesterday, adding to the allies’ show of force to counter North Korean nuclear threats.

The USS Annapolis arrived at a port on Jeju Island about a week after the USS Kentucky docked at the mainland port of Busan.

The Kentucky was the first US nuclear-armed submarine to visit South Korea since the 1980s. North Korea reacted to its arrival by test-firing ballistic and cruise missiles in apparent demonstrations that it could make nuclear strikes against South Korea and deployed US naval vessels.

South Korean navy sailors wave as the nuclear-powered submarine USS Annapolis arrives at a naval base on Jeju Island, South Korea, yesterday.

Photo: AP / South Korean Ministry of National Defense

In between those launches, North Korea’s defense minister issued a veiled threat insisting the Kentucky’s docking in South Korea could be grounds for Pyongyang to use a nuclear weapon against it. North Korea has used similar rhetoric before, but the statement underscored how much relations are strained.

The Annapolis, whose main mission is destroying enemy ships and submarines, is powered by a nuclear reactor, but is armed with conventional weapons.

The Annapolis docked at Jeju mainly to load supplies, but Jang Do-young, a spokesperson for the South Korean navy, said the US and South Korean militaries were discussing whether to arrange training involving the vessel.

Meanwhile, the US-led UN Command yesterday said it had started a conversation with North Korea about US Private Travis King who last week ran into the North across one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders.

Andrew Harrison, a British lieutenant general who is the deputy commander at the UN Command, refused to say when the conversation started, how many exchanges have taken place and whether the North Koreans responded constructively, citing the sensitivity of the discussions.

He also declined to detail what the command knows about King’s condition.


Source: Taipei Times - 2023/07/25


Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
Reddit! Del.icio.us! Mixx! Google! Live! Facebook! StumbleUpon! Facebook! Twitter!  
 

Newsflash


Students and demonstrators against the controversial cross-strait service trade agreement last night break into the compound of the Legislative Yuan and occupy the podium on the legislative floor.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times.

Opposition parties and civic groups are working together on a full-scale protest that includes legislative boycotts, a “siege” of the legislature and street rallies after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) cut short the review of the cross-strait service trade agreement on Monday and sent the pact directly to the plenary session for its second reading.

At about 9pm, more than 300 students and demonstrators broke from the rally outside the Legislative Yuan, broke into the compound and took over the podium on the legislative floor.