US nuclear submarines to dock in South Korea for first time in 40 years

The United States and South Korea will join forces to deter the DPRK as it prepares for another nuclear test. U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarines will dock in the Republic of Korea for the first time in 40 years.

Here's What We Know

The submarines will be a key component in the so-called "Washington Declaration" aimed at deterring the DPRK. The plan for US nuclear-powered submarines to call at South Korean ports will be signed by Presidents Joe Biden and Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington on Wednesday, 26 April.

The agreement is aimed at allaying the Republic of Korea's fears over North Korea's aggressive nuclear programme. The US wants to deter the country from restarting its own nuclear programme, which it closed some 50 years ago when it signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Earlier, the president of the Republic of Korea had mulled resuming the development of its own nuclear weapons. Yoon Seok-yeol has also considered the option of the USA deploying its own weapons on the Korean peninsula.

The two countries intend to increase coordination as part of a nuclear response strategy in the event of an attack by North Korea. The U.S. would have operational control of all weapons, while nuclear weapons would not be deployed on the territory of the Republic of Korea after all.

As a presidential candidate, Yoon Seok-yeol said he planned to call for greater deployment of US strategic bombers, nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers in the country. The B-1B Lancer and B-52H Stratofortress strategic jets are already making themselves at home in the region, but nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines were last in South Korea in the 1970s, the height of the Cold War. And sometimes they came in several times a month, while the Republic of Korea itself hosted hundreds of US nuclear warheads.

In 1991, a decision was made to withdraw US nuclear weapons. A year later, a declaration was signed between Seoul and Pyongyang that neither country would test, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons.

As for the "Washington Declaration", the source does not say which US Navy submarines will be sent to South Korean ports. There are nearly two dozen Ohio-class submarines in service. Four of them carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, while the rest are equipped with Trident II (D5) ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.

Source: AP