US nuclear-capable submarine visits South Korea for first time in decades

The submarine made the stopover as part of Washington's efforts to show its commitment to defending its East Asian ally.

A US submarine capable of launching nuclear ballistic missiles arrived in South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in four decades, the latest effort by Washington to boost the confidence of South Koreans in their commitment to defend the country against North Korea.

"As we speak, a US nuclear submarine is calling at Busan today," Kurt Campbell, the Indo-Pacific coordinator of the White House, to reporters in Seoul. referring to the port in the southwest corner of South Korea.

The Pentagon said a nuclear ballistic missile submarine was on its way, but Mr. Campbell was the first official American to confirm his arrival.

​The stopover of Kentucky, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, " reflects the United States' ironclad commitment to the Republic of Korea for our Extended Deterrence Guarantee,” the U.S. military said in a statement Tuesday, using South Korea's official name.

When President Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, met in Washington in April, a question high on their agenda was how to ensure South Koreans worried that the United States would defend its ally North Korea despite the North's growing nuclear arsenal.

Ahead of the summit, Yoon suggested that Korea South Korea may one day try to develop its own nuclear weapons.

At the summit meeting, Yoon reaffirmed South Korea's policy of not developing nuclear weapons. 'nuclear weapons. Instead, the two leaders announced a "Declaration from Washington" in which Mr. Biden said any nuclear attack by the North against the South would be met with "a swift, overwhelming and decisive response" with "the full range of American capabilities, including nuclear."

To demonstrate such commitment, the United States has agreed to enhance "regular visibility" of strategic assets around the Korean Peninsula , including a visit to a US nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The allies also agreed to establish a nuclear advisory group to discuss how to respond to a nuclear attack by Kim Jong-un's forces.

Mr. Campbell led the US delegation to the group's inaugural meeting on Tuesday at Mr. Yoon's presidential office in Seoul. Mr Yoon told the meeting that his country's ties with the United States were being transformed into a "nuclear-based alliance", according to his office.

"Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies is unacceptable and will bring about the end of this regime," the group said in a later statement.

North Korea has accused Washington and Seoul of raising tensions by "openly discussing the use of nuclear weapons". Washington's steps to strengthen the alliance with South Korea would only "take us further away from the negotiating table," said Kim Yo-jong, Mr. Kim's sister and spokesperson, in a statement to North Korean state media on Monday. /p>

US ballistic nuclear submarines made a total of 35 stopovers in South Korea between 1976 and 1981, according to military analysts. The United States withdrew some of its troops stationed in South Korea in the 1970s as it tried, as it does today, to assuage South Korean fears over its defense commitment .

The United States removed all tactical nuclear weapons from South Korea in 1991 as part of global nuclear arms reduction efforts. In 1992, the two Koreas signed an agreement "not to test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or...