Second US Submarine Arrives in South Korea amid North Korea Tensions

A crew patrols on the deck of US Ballistic Missile Submarine USS Kentucky anchored at Busan Naval Base, in Busan, South Korea, July 19, 2023. WOOHAE CHO/Pool via REUTERS
A crew patrols on the deck of US Ballistic Missile Submarine USS Kentucky anchored at Busan Naval Base, in Busan, South Korea, July 19, 2023. WOOHAE CHO/Pool via REUTERS
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Second US Submarine Arrives in South Korea amid North Korea Tensions

A crew patrols on the deck of US Ballistic Missile Submarine USS Kentucky anchored at Busan Naval Base, in Busan, South Korea, July 19, 2023. WOOHAE CHO/Pool via REUTERS
A crew patrols on the deck of US Ballistic Missile Submarine USS Kentucky anchored at Busan Naval Base, in Busan, South Korea, July 19, 2023. WOOHAE CHO/Pool via REUTERS

A US nuclear-powered submarine arrived in South Korea on Monday, only days after the first US nuclear armed submarine made port in the country in four decades, as the two allies seek to boost American strategic assets to deter North Korea.

The USS Annapolis entered a naval base in South Korea' southern island of Jeju, to load military supplies while on an unspecified operational mission, the South Korean navy said.

"The two countries' navies plan to strengthen the combined defense posture with the arrival of the USS Annapolis, and conduct exchange activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the alliance," it said in a statement.

The USS Kentucky, a US ballistic missile submarine, made port in South Korea last Tuesday. It was the first visit since the 1980s of a US nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) and coincided with the launch of talks between the US and South Korea to coordinate responses in the event of a nuclear war with North Korea, Reuters said.

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles on Wednesday hours after the USS Kentucky's visit, and again fired several cruise missiles on Saturday.

The USS Annapolis is not nuclear-armed unlike the USS Kentucky and specializes in anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, and joined trilateral anti-submarine exercises with South Korea and Japan last September in international waters off the Korean peninsula.



Kremlin Says NATO Chief’s Nuclear Weapons Remarks Are an Escalation

 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP)
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Kremlin Says NATO Chief’s Nuclear Weapons Remarks Are an Escalation

 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP)

The Kremlin said on Monday that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's remarks about talks on deploying more nuclear weapons were an escalation.

NATO is in talks to deploy more nuclear weapons, taking them out of storage and placing them on standby, in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China, Stoltenberg told The Telegraph newspaper.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Stoltenberg's comments appeared to contradict the communique of the Ukraine Conference that said any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine context was inadmissible.

"This is nothing but another escalation of tension," Peskov said of the Stoltenberg remarks.

Russia says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used against Russian territory.

Russia and the United States are by far the world's biggest nuclear powers, holding about 88% of the world's nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

The United States has about 100 non-strategic B61 nuclear weapons deployed in five European countries - Italy, Germany, Türkiye, Belgium and the Netherlands, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The US has another 100 such weapons within its borders.

Russia has about 1,558 non-strategic nuclear warheads, though arms control experts say it is very difficult to say just how many there are due to secrecy.