Travis King, Kim’s Missile Tests Compel US to Send Another Nuclear-Armed Sub to Korea

As part of the allies’ show of force to oppose North Korean nuclear threats, a nuclear-powered US submarine has landed in South Korea, marking the second such deployment of a significant US naval asset to the Korean Peninsula this month, according to South Korea’s military.

A week or so after the USS Kentucky berthed at the Busan port on the mainland, the USS Annapolis sailed into a port on Jeju Island.

Since the 1980s, the Kentucky was the first US nuclear-armed submarine to visit South Korea. In response to its arrival, North Korea tested ballistic and cruise missiles in what seemed to be an indication that it may launch nuclear attacks on South Korea and sent out US navy ships.

The Kentucky’s docking in South Korea may be cause for the North to unleash a nuclear bomb on it, the North’s defense minister said in a covert threat he made in the intervals between those launches. Although North Korea has previously used similar language, the statement highlighted how tense the situation is right now.

The Annapolis, which is fueled by a nuclear reactor but is equipped with conventional weaponry, is primarily responsible for eliminating enemy ships and submarines. The Annapolis primarily anchored in Jeju to unload cargo, but Jang Do Young, a spokesman for the South Korean military, said the US and South Korean forces were debating whether to schedule training exercises with the ship.

In the meanwhile, Pvt. Travis King, an American soldier who crossed the border last Tuesday, received no public response from North Korea. US authorities are worried about King’s health and claim that North Korea has been refusing to answer their demands for basic information on him, such as where he is being held and how he is doing.

According to analysts, North Korea withholds relevant information concerning King for weeks or even months in order to maximize its leverage and increase the urgency of US attempts to gain his release. According to others, North Korea may attempt to pressure Washington into making concessions by attaching his release to a reduction in American military engagements with South Korea.

In a show of force against North Korea, which has tested around 100 missiles since the beginning of 2022, the US and South Korea have been boosting their joint military drills and increasing regional deployments of US strategic assets including bombers, aircraft carriers, and submarines.