The US and South Korean navies exhibited a show of force in the Sea of Japan, the latest in a series of displays of military might in answer to North Korea’s testing of ballistic missiles carrying nuclear weapons.
The exercises saw the US guided missile destroyer USS Spruance join planes, ships, and submarines from the South Korean navy.
It was the first time South Korean and U.S. vessels worked together in waters very close to North Korea’s east coast, a US Navy official said. The ships were equipped with long-range, accurate, cruise missiles designed for land targets, the official said.
The naval display followed last week’s flight of US Air Force B-1 bombers next to the Demilitarized Zone, the closest they have ever flown to the border separating North and South Korea, said a source with the U.S. military.
That flyover was subsequent to North Korea’s statement of what it claimed was a triumphant experiment of a rocket power plant.
Earlier in September, Osan Air Base had a fly-by of B-1s, south of the South Korean capital of Seoul, in answer to North Korea’s fifth test of a nuclear warhead. Pyongyang said the test illustrated it’s capable of mounting warheads on such weapons.
The US works alongside its ROK partners every day; they are by their side today at sea, and the US, will stay by their side to defend them against North Korea’s unnecessary acts of hostility, said Rear Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Korea and Task Force 78, in a statement.
Noteworthy in Monday’s drills was the appearance of Spruance and South Korean destroyers armed with the Aegis missile defense system. Lauded by manufacturer Lockheed-Martin as the world’s most effective combat system, Aegis can track more than 100 targets simultaneously and is the only naval system capable of stopping ballistic missile weaponry.
North Korea has enlarged its trial runs of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) this year. Its most recent effort last month flew around 300 miles (500 kilometers). Pyongyang claimed the test was successful.
South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers recently that Pyongyang is moving toward its goal of fixing a nuclear warhead to advanced missiles sooner than previously thought.
Pyongyang lays the blame on the US for causing them to develop their nuclear weapons program.
North Korea had no other alternative but to employ nuclear weapons to protect themselves against persistent nuclear intimidation from America, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said on Friday to the UN General Assembly, CNN Politics reported.
Meanwhile, experts aren’t in agreement about whether the repeated exhibits of force by the US can prevent Pyongyang’s nuclear program. South Korean officials believe Pyongyang is already physically ready to carry out its sixth nuclear test.