US deploys nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea in show of force against North Korea

HYUNG-JIN KIM

The United States deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in four decades, as the allies warned North Korea that any use of the North’s nuclear weapons in combat would result in the end of its regime.

Periodic visits by U.S. nuclear ballistic missile-capable submarines to South Korea were one of several agreements reached by the two countries’ presidents in April in response to North Korea’s expanding nuclear threat. They also agreed to establish a bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group and expand military exercises.

The USS Kentucky, an Ohio-class submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday afternoon, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said. It is the first visit by a U.S. nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea since the 1980s, it said.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup called the submarine’s visit a demonstration of U.S. resolve in implementing its “extended deterrence” commitment,