Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter |
The United Staes nuclear powered submarine has arrived in South Korea in the second deployment of a
major U.S. naval asset to the Korean Peninsula this month, said South Korea’s military on Monday, adding to
the allies’ show of force against growing threats from North Korea.
The USS Annapolis, 6-thousand-ton nuclear-powered submarine arrived at a port on Jeju Island on Monday
three days after the United Staes Kentucky, the first nuclear submarine departed from the port of Busan.
The USS Annapolis is Los Angeles class fast attack submarine weighs 6-thousand tons when surfaced, 110 meters long and can move at a speed of more than 25 knots, or 46 kilometers per hour.
The Annapolis basic mission is to destroy enemy ships and submarines powered by a nuclear reactor but is
armed with conventional weapons like Tomahawk land attack missiles based in California.
South Korean Navy explained that "the purpose of the deployed USS Annapolis is to load military supplies
during its mission. Marking its visit, the naval forces of South Korea and the U.S. plan to strengthen the
combined defense posture and conduct activities together in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the
two countries' alliance."
The arrival of the nuclear-powered submarine comes at a sensitive time, when North Korea is set to celebrate the 70th anniversary of what it calls "Victory Day" on Thursday, marking the day of Korean War armistice was signed --July 27th, 1953 reported by the state media on Tuesday.
As per KCNA report, “the event will serve as a "meaningful occasion to powerfully boast the unwavering belief and will of all people, soldiers and new generations who will continue to take the past 70 years of glory of shielding victory to the next 700 and 7,000 years."
There is the possibility that North Korea may hold a large-scale military parade or carry out more missile tests, as the regime warned last week that the deployment of U.S. nuclear assets in South Korea could "meet the
conditions" for the use of nuclear weapons.
The United States and South Korea have been expanding their combined military exercises and increasing
regional deployments of U.S. strategic assets like bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines in a show of force against North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.
