Seoul [South Korea], November 5 (ANI): The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived at the naval base in South Korea’s largest port city of Busan on Wednesday, state media Yonhap reported. The visit underscores what officials described as a reaffirmation of the “South Korea–US combined defense posture.”
The George Washington, part of Carrier Strike Group 5, is accompanied by the missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls and the Aegis destroyers USS Milius and USS Shoup. According to South Korea’s Navy, the visit is intended for resupplying and providing rest for the crew.
South Korea’s Navy said it “plans to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the navies of the two countries, as well as enhance defense capabilities on the occasion of the arrival of the Fifth Aircraft Carrier Group.”
This marks the first visit by a US aircraft carrier since President Lee Jae-myung took office in June. Earlier this year, in March, the USS Carl Vinson made a port call to Busan. On October 28, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and US President Donald Trump visited the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan.
During his visit to South Korea earlier this week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised Seoul’s plans to increase defense spending and confirmed that US troops stationed in the country could be mobilized to address regional threats. Speaking at a press conference alongside South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, Hegseth said Washington would make “deliberate interagency efforts” to support President Trump’s pledge allowing South Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines in a US shipyard.
President Lee reportedly asked President Trump during their APEC summit meeting last week to permit Seoul to secure nuclear fuel supplies for conventionally armed submarines designed to track North Korean and Chinese vessels more effectively. According to Yonhap, Trump later posted on social media that he had given South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) at a Philadelphia shipyard operated by Hanwha Ocean.
Despite the approval, South Korea reaffirmed its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). “South Korea joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, so we will not develop nuclear weapons,” Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said after talks with Hegseth.
The United States and South Korea routinely conduct joint military exercises, with the most recent taking place in August. North Korea, however, has repeatedly condemned the presence of US aircraft carriers in South Korean ports. Following the USS Carl Vinson’s visit to Busan in March, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, denounced the deployment as “a manifestation of the greatest hostility.”
North Korea has steadily expanded its nuclear arsenal and missile capabilities in recent years while deepening its ties with Russia. Pyongyang has reportedly supplied weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine and deployed additional troops to the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a cross-border offensive in August 2024. (ANI)
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