Show of Power: Nuclear-Armed US Navy Submarine “Surfaces” Off Korea to Counter North Korean ICBM Test

U.S. missile submarine visits South Korea. China fears these submarines for a reason – as one incident shows from 2010.

The USS Kentucky (SSBN-737) arrived in South Korea this week, marking the first visit by an American submarine in nearly four decades.

Surely, China and North Korea were watching quite closely.

The U.S. Strategic Command announced that the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine surfaced in the port city of Busan just days after North Korea test-fired what it said was a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Seoul and Washington simultaneously launched talks to discuss how to best coordinator in light of Pyongyang’s escalating provocations in the region.

Back in April, the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol was announced.

However, the SSGN’s rare visit was not initially revealed until this week.

The U.S. National Security Council’s coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell made these remarks while attending the inaugural Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) in Seoul, which was set up by the countries in April.