US aircraft carrier battle group arrives in South Korea as nuclear-armed North Korea escalates threats

On June 22, a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea for a three-way exercise to intensify military training in the fight against the threat from North Korea, which has been exacerbated by the alliance with Russia.

The arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group in Busan came a day after South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest a pact signed this week between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that pledges mutual defense assistance in the event of war.

South Korea said the agreement posed a threat to its security and warned that it could respond by considering supplying weapons to Ukraine to repel the Russian invasion – a move that would certainly jeopardize the country’s relations with Moscow.

Following a meeting of their defense ministers in Singapore in early June, the United States, South Korea and Japan announced Freedom Edge. The new multidisciplinary exercise is designed to sharpen the countries’ joint response in various operational areas, including air, sea and cyberspace.

The Theodore Roosevelt battle group will take part in the exercise, which is expected to begin in June. The South Korean military did not immediately confirm any specific details of the exercise.

Rear Admiral Christopher Alexander, commander of Carrier Strike Group Nine, said the goal of the exercise was to sharpen the ships’ tactical capabilities and improve interoperability between the two countries’ naval fleets “to ensure we are prepared to respond to any crisis or emergency.”

“The timing of the exercise was well planned. This was not meant to be a message. It is not a reaction to the rapprochement between Russia and North Korea,” said Rear Admiral Alexander. “Our alliance has been working together for over seventy years. This is just an exercise that further strengthens our relations.”

The South Korean Navy said in a statement that the arrival of the Theodore Roosevelt demonstrated the allies’ strong defensive posture and “determined readiness to respond to the advancing threats from North Korea.” The carrier’s visit came seven months after another U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, arrived in South Korea to demonstrate its strength to the North.

The Theodore Roosevelt strike group also took part in a three-way exercise with South Korean and Japanese naval forces in April in the disputed East China Sea, where concerns are growing over China’s territorial claims.

Faced with the growing threat from North Korea, the United States, South Korea and Japan have expanded joint training and increased the visibility of strategic U.S. military resources in the region to intimidate the North.

The United States and South Korea are also currently updating their nuclear deterrence strategies, with Seoul seeking stronger assurances that Washington would use its nuclear capabilities quickly and decisively to protect its ally from a North Korean nuclear attack.