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| ▲ The Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine USS Michigan arrives at a key naval base in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on June 16, 2023. (Yonhap) |
US submarine-departure
U.S. nuclear-powered submarine set to depart after combined drills with S. Korea
SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. nuclear-powered guided missile submarine (SSGN) is set to leave South Korea on Thursday, an informed source said, following its combined special warfare drills with the Korean Navy.
The Ohio-class SSGN, USS Michigan, arrived Friday last week in an apparent show of America's naval might, a day after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea in apparent protest against the allies' massive live-fire drills.
Jeon Ha-kyu, the spokesperson of Seoul's defense ministry, told reporters that the submarine engaged in a combined special ops training with the South Korean Navy during its stay here but did not elaborate further.
It marked the first time the U.S. has sent an SSGN to South Korea since October 2017.
The SSGN deployment here came after the United States pledged to further enhance the "regular visibility" of its strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula through the Washington Declaration adopted by President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden at their White House summit in April.
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