Triggered by the Moscow and Pyongyang Defense Pact, the US Sends an Aircraft Carrier to South Korea

SEOUL – A nuclear powered aircraft carrier United States of America arrived on Saturday (22/6/2024) in South Korea. It was aimed at a three-way exercise that enhances their military training to address North Korea’s growing threat as it aligns with Russia.

The arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in Busan came a day after South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest an agreement reached between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week promising mutual defense assistance in the event of war.

South Korea said the deal posed a threat to its security and warned that it could consider sending weapons to Ukraine to help fight a Russian invasion in response – a move that would surely damage South Korea’s relations with Moscow.

Following a meeting between their defense chiefs in Singapore in early June, the United States, South Korea and Japan announced Freedom Edge. The new multi-domain exercise aims to sharpen the countries’ joint response across multiple areas of operations, including air, sea and cyber.

The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt will participate in the drills which are expected to begin in June. The South Korean military did not immediately confirm specific details of the training.

The South Korean Navy said in a statement that the arrival of the Theodore Roosevelt demonstrated the allies’ strong defense posture and “strong willingness to respond to the growing North Korean threat.”

The carrier’s visit comes seven months after another US aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, came to South Korea in a show of force against North Korea.

The Theodore Roosevelt strike group also participated in three-way drills with South Korean and Japanese navies in April in the disputed East China Sea, where concerns about China’s territorial claims are increasing.

In the face of increasing North Korean threats, the United States, South Korea, and Japan have expanded their joint training and increased the visibility of U.S. strategic military assets in the region, seeking to intimidate North Korea.

The United States and South Korea have also updated their nuclear deterrence strategies, and Seoul is seeking stronger assurances that Washington will quickly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to defend its allies against North Korean nuclear attacks.

(ahm)