A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan on Tuesday, in another show of America’s military might against growing North Korean threats, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The USS Nimitz carrier docked in the city, 325 km southeast of Seoul, after its strike group trained with the South Korean Navy in the international waters south of the southern island of Jeju the previous day.
It has brought some 70 combat aircraft, including F/A-18 fighters and E-2 Hawkeye early warning aircraft.
On the eve of its port call in Busan, the North fired what it claimed to be “tactical” ballistic missiles loaded with simulated “nuclear warheads.” The launch followed a series of earlier weapons tests, including that of an “underwater nuclear attack drone” last week.
It is the first time since last September that a US nuclear carrier visited a South Korean port.
In a press meeting aboard USS Nimitz on Monday, Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, the commander of the carrier strike group, highlighted the allies’ readiness to deal with North Korean threats. “I’m not threatened or worried about North Korea,” Sweeney said, noting that the US has “deployable strategic assets at the ready on every day.” Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has “guided” the country’s nuclear weaponization project, calling for expanding the production of weapons-grade nuclear materials for an exponential increase in its nuclear arsenal, Pyongyang’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday.
Kim also inspected what appeared to be tactical nuclear warheads Monday, and called for “flawless” preparations for the use of nuclear weapons “anytime and anywhere,” as he received a briefing by the Nuclear Weapons Institute on the country’s nuclear force, according to the report.
“We should never be satisfied with the work to consolidate the thoroughgoing response posture of our nuclear force and should continuously strive to strengthen nuclear force steadily,” Kim was quoted as saying.
Source: Kuwait News Agency