North Korea has called the US warship's docking at South Korea's Busan port a 'very dangerous' move that will "leave doors open for North Korea's overwhelming demonstration of deterrence." The reaction comes two days after the US Navy's aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, docked at Busan port, as part of a joint military exercise between the US, South Korea and Japan.
The nuclear-powered warship's arrival at Busan also coincides with Russian President Vladimir Putin's high-profile visit to North Korea.
Washington, Seoul and Tokyo also released a joint statement on Monday condemning deepening military ties between North Korea and Russia. A statement by the US, South Korea and Japan read that they "condemn in the strongest possible terms deepening military cooperation between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Russia."
The warm relations shared by the heads of the states, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, also resulted in the Freedom Edge exercises, a result of the agreement made by the defence chiefs of the US, South Korea and Japan.
Under the agreement, the exercise will take place across various domains, including air, maritime, underwater and cyber.
Sending the USS Theodore Roosevelt to Busan also suggests Washington's commitment to its ally South Korea. The US had earlier too shown its support to South Korea by sending B-1B bombers for a live-fire exercise on the peninsula, the first time in seven years. Last week, a US Air Force AC-130 gunship also performed live-fire strikes on the same range where the B-1s dropped their bombs.
Meanwhile, North Korea's state news agency KCNA lashed out at the Western allies for the joint exercise. North Korea's vice minister of defence, Kim Kang Il, said the U.S. sending an aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula was a "very dangerous" show of force.
The military officials also hit out at the US for supplying arms to Ukraine. Pak Jong Chon, one of North Korea's top military officials, said Moscow had the "right to opt for any kind of retaliatory strike" if Washington kept pushing Ukraine to a proxy war" against Russia. "It could provoke a stronger response from Moscow and a new world war," Pak said. He referred to comments by the Pentagon last week that Ukrainian forces can use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike Russian forces anywhere across the border into Russia.
