America’s biggest, nuclear-guided submarine, the USS Michigan, has arrived in the South Korean port of Busan to join an armada” of warships sent by President Trump as deterrence and to confront Pyongyang’s erratic behaviour with ballistic missiles and growing nuclear ambition.
The nuclear-powered USS Michigan submarine which carries up to 154 non-nuclear Tomahawk cruise missiles made the port call in what US Defense officials describe as a show of force amid growing concerns that North Korea may be planning to carry out a nuclear test anytime.
US Navy submarine USS Michigan arrived in port of Busan, South Korea, the same day North Korea marked its 85th military anniversary. Credit: Getty Images
The US Navy sub arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on the same day that North Korea celebrates its 85th military anniversary to mark the founding of the nation’s Korean People’s Army (KPA). Symbolic events are often marked with large artillery drills and a test of military hardware including ballistic missiles.
The arrival of the US Navy Fleet USS Michigan was announced earlier by US Pacific Fleet. Credit: Twitter/US Pacific Fleet
A flurry of diplomacy spearheaded by the United States is currently underway with regional leaders from Japan and South Korea meeting to discuss rising tensions in the region. There is growing concern with North Korea’s erratic behaviour with ballistic missiles and nuclear ambition.
The missile-armed USS Michigan is set to join an an “amarda” of warships including aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. Credit: US Navy
Citing sources from South Korean officials, the South’s Yonhap news agency said the North “conducted a massive live-fire artillery training exercise in Wonsan near the demilitarized zone (DMZ),” a reference to a specially designated area at the border between the North and the South Koreas.
US Naval Force called the nuclear-guided USS Michigan submarine visit “routine”, saying it was a chance to highlight the strength of the alliance between US and South Korean navies, read the statement.
A map showing military build-up in the Korean Peninsula are tensions with North Korea ratchet up..
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff released a statement saying, “Our military is keeping a close eye on the North Korean military’s activities in the vicinity of Wonsan and maintaining a steadfast combat posture.”
However, North Korean officials through the state newspaper the Rodong Sinmun continued its bellicose rhetoric on Tuesday by expressing pride in the country’s military. They paper through a front-page editorial offered a blood culling warning that:
“There is no limit to the strike power of the People’s Army armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturized nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles,” it added.
North Korean officials attend a national meeting at the People’s Palace of Culture. Pyongyang has increased the bellicose rhetoric on the US. Credit: Reuters
Pyongyang and Washington have been engaged in an escalating war of words in recent weeks after President Trump’s administration declared the era of “strategic patience” towards North Korea’s military ambitions was over.
The USS Michigan is capable of firing off salvos of Tomahawk cruise missiles will join the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in drills near the Korean Peninsula. Credit: Reuters
US vice president Mike Pence said on Saturday that a strike group led by the US Carl Vinson aircraft carrier would arrive in Korean waters “in a matter of days”.
The ships were heading north in the western Pacific Ocean conducting joint exercises with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force on Monday.
The US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (UCV) said to arrive in the Peninsula on Monday will later be joined by US Navy USS Michigan and the Japanese Navy for drills in a show of strength. Credit: EPA
North Korea’s only diplomatic ally and key trading partner is calling for an easing of tensions. Chinese President Xi Jinping who spoke to called President Trump on Monday on the phone urge the same.
President Trump on Monday warned Pyongyang that the US will strike back if challenged and attacked. Credit: Associated Press
“The North Korea nuclear issue is like a puzzle filled with bombs,” remarked the Global Times newspaper which is said to have close ties to China’s ruling party .
Chinese media on Tuesday reached out to Pyongyang in editorials that urged Pyongyang not to provoke the United with its nuclear threat and bellicose rhetoric something which Pyongyang has chosen to ignore.
Earlier this month, President Trump told Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo that the US was sending an “armada” with submarines to the region.
“We are sending an armada. Very powerful” before continuing, “We have submarines. Very powerful. Far more powerful than the aircraft carrier. That I can tell you.”
At that time, military analysts had suspected Trump might have been referring to Ohio-class subs like the Michigan.
Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, the Michigan is one of four US Navy subs that began service as a ballistic missile submarine, loaded with nuclear missiles as part of the US strategic nuclear deterrent.
The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan (SSGN 727) is the second submarine of the Ohio-class of ballistic missile submarines and guided missile submarines, and the third U.S. ship to bear the name. Credit: U.S. Navy
Deployment of the USS Michigan sub to Busan comes after North Korea on Sunday threatened to sink the American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which will engage in joint drills with two Japanese destroyers in the western Pacific Ocean.
The Vinson will be joined by the Ashigara and Samidare destroyers in “tactical training” drills near the Philippines, the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force said.
A South Korean navy sailor watches the US Navy destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer during a joint exercises between US and South Korea Navy in South Korea’s West Sea. Credit: Associated Press
North Korea’s local paper Rodong Sinmun in their editorial on Tuesday also said the country is ready to illustrate its “military force” by sinking a “nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike.”
The claim by the newspaper that the country has weaponry that “can reach continental US and Asia Pacific region” and the “absolute weapon,” or a nuclear hydrogen bomb” have not been independently verified, said CNN’s Junko Ogura and Susannah Cullinane.
Meanwhile, President Trump has invited all 100 US Senators and military chiefs to the White House on Wednesday to discuss the impending situation in the Korean Peninsula with North Korea.
Copyright © 2017 Manyika Review. All Rights Reserved.
