US to send its biggest nuclear-armed sub to Korean peninsula

The port visit by nuclear-armed, Ohio-class ‘boomer’ may prove more successful at assuring South Korea than intimidating Kim.

The USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, visited South Korea in recent days to participate in combined special-ops training.

The US plans to send its largest nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in four decades, in an effort to deter North Korea and reassure American allies in Seoul.

Bringing the massive submarine to the Korean peninsula is ­intended to rattle the regime of Kim Jong-un. The Ohio-class warships, called “boomers”, can stay submerged indefinitely and go on months-long patrols. They can fire nuclear warheads at targets thousands of kilometres away.

But the visit carries just as much – if not more – significance for South Korea.

The port visit will mark the first substantial payout from an accord struck in late April ­between President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. Seoul restated its commitment to not developing its own nuclear weapons. In return, the US offered South Korea – for the first time – a bigger say in consultations on potential American nuclear use in response to a North Korean attack and promised to dispatch strategic assets such as nuclear-armed submarines and B-52 bombers to the region.

In recent days, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered sub that shoots cruise missiles, visited South Korea to participate in combined special-ops training. American and South Korean officials haven’t disclosed the timing of the visit by the submarine armed with nuclear warheads.

Pyongyang has engaged in a run of missile provocations, breaking a self-imposed moratorium on long-range weapons. US-led efforts to thwart the North’s behaviour through the UN Security Council have been met with resistance by China and Russia. The Kim regime went more than two months without any missile activity before test-firing a couple of short-range weapons earlier this month.

A port call by an Ohio-class sub with nuclear firepower isn’t likely to dissuade the Kim regime. If anything, the arrival of the ­nuclear submarine will feed into the North Korean dictator’s narrative that more weapons advances are necessary to defend the country against the joint threat from the US and South Korea, said Jean H. Lee, a nonresident fellow at the European Centre for North Korean Studies.

“They don’t have a lot now, so Kim Jong-un needs tension to justify testing,” Ms Lee said. “It will be very tempting to use this as an opportunity to show the ­people there has been a very real reason why he’s been investing in nuclear weapons.”

The potential for a bigger shift from the April accord lies more with South Korea, security ­experts say. Mr Yoon, a conservative who took office last year, has made solidifying ties with Washington and Tokyo a priority. Earlier this month, the South Korean leader said his country’s relationship with the US had been upgraded to a “nuclear-based alliance”.

The biggest prospects for a change lie with the establishment of a new nuclear consultative group between the two countries. Seoul and Washington are firming up details for the first deliberations, which are expected to occur four times a year. The pact also calls for new training exercises for scenarios that could include a South Korean conventional military role in supporting US nuclear operations in a conflict. Mr Yoon raised concern among US officials after suggesting in January that South Korea could pursue its own nuclear weapons.

The Wall Street Journal