Is N. Korea freaked out by surge of US strike assets?

The USS Michigan, a Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine, arrives at Busan Port, Tuesday. The sub can carry about 150 Tomahawk missiles capable of conducting a surgical strike on key North Korean facilities. / Courtesy of the United States Forces Korea

N. Korea warned of fresh provocation

By Jun Ji-hye

U.S. strategic assets including a nuclear-powered submarine are gathering around the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against North Korea as the regime in Pyongyang celebrated the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army, Tuesday.

The dispatch of advanced weapons comes amid growing worries that the North may conduct large-scale military provocations including a nuclear test to mark the event. As of Tuesday, the North showed no unusual movements other than conducting a live-fire drill near the eastern city of Wonsan, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The USS Michigan, an Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine, arrived in South Korea's port city of Busan, Tuesday morning, during a regularly scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific.

"This visit is yet another example of the steadfast ROK and U.S. naval partnership," said Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea. "We (the U.S. and ROK navies) work closely with one another every day of the year and this well-deserved port visit is a chance for Michigan sailors to enjoy the wonderful Busan culture that U.S. Navy Korea sailors experience each and every day."

As one of the largest submarines in the world, the Michigan is about 170 meters long and weighs more than 18,000 tons when submerged. The sub can carry about 150 Tomahawk missiles capable of conducting a surgical strike on the North's key facilities.

The U.S. Naval Forces Korea said in a release that the submarine provides the Navy with unprecedented strike and special operation mission capabilities from a stealthy, clandestine platform.

"Armed with tactical missiles and equipped with superior communications capabilities, guided-missile submarines are capable of launching missile strikes and supporting Special Operation Forces missions," it said.

The submarine will reportedly conduct its own exercise near waters off the peninsula after a hull inspection in Busan.

On the same day, the navies of the U.S. and South Korea also sent their destroyers to the West Sea for live-fire training. Seoul mobilized the 4,400-ton destroyer Wang Geon, while Washington brought the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer.

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A U.S. Navy strike group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is also coming to the East Sea.

"The USS Carl Vinson is expected to arrive at the end of this month," the South Korean Navy said in a press release. "It will participate in joint drills with the ROK Navy."

The aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1982, is the centerpiece of the 7,500-complement strike group. The 100,000-ton ship measures 333 meters in length and 77 meters in width. The vessel carries 90 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters including about 40 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters, 10 aerial refueling tankers and five E-2D Hawkeye early warning aircraft.

The Carl Vinson Strike Group also includes the guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy, and the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain.

A series of dispatches of U.S. military assets is in line with the Donald Trump administration's hawkish stance on the North as the U.S. president keeps indicating that Washington could launch a pre-emptive strike on Pyongyang if it seems certain that the Kim regime is about to conduct a sixth nuclear test.

Trump also held separate phone conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Abe, Monday, during which they pledged closer cooperation amid growing concern over the North's provocations.

China, the North's sole ally, warned through its state media that Beijing could reduce its oil supply to the North if it conducts major provocative actions.

For their part, senior officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed at a meeting in Tokyo, Tuesday, to take strong punitive action against the North if it conducts any military provocation.

The agreement came after Kim Hong-kyun, the South Korean special representative for the North Korean nuclear issue met his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi.

"The three sides agreed that we will strongly warn that North Korea should stop further strategic provocations, but we will take strong punitive action that the North could not bear if it pushes ahead with one despite the warning," Kim told reporters after the meeting.

He added that the countries will consider a stronger anti-North response in the existing fields of U.N. Security Council resolutions, country-level sanctions and international diplomatic pressure.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang is ratcheting up its harsh rhetoric against the Trump administration, warning of war in response to any hostile action by the U.S.