https://sputniknews.com/military/201710101058086585-usa-nuclear-submarine-south-korea/
The USS Michigan nuclear-powered submarine will reportedly arrive in the South Korean port of Busan at the weekend amid the ongoing escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to the recent Pyongyang's nuclear tests.
TOKYO (Sputnik) – The 18,000-tonnes USS Michigan is equipped with 54 Tomahawk missiles that are capable of hitting targets that are up to 1,400 miles away.
Following the submarine, the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier will be also dispatched to South Korea next week, The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported.
The United States is building up its military presence in South Korea amid the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula due to Pyongyang's missile launches and nuclear tests, conducted in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
A man, right, watches a public TV screen broadcasting news of North Korea's launch of missile, in Tokyo
© AP PHOTO/ EUGENE HOSHIKO
South Korea on Alert Amid North’s Plans to Fire Long-Range Missile – Government
In the most recent case on September 15, North Korea launched a ballistic missile, which flew over Japan before falling into the northern Pacific some 20 minutes after the launch.
Over the course of the escalating crisis, North Korea has been trading threats with Washington. In the first address to the United Nations General Assembly, US President Donald Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if forced to defend the United States or its allies. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a statement, warning Washington of a "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" in response to Trump's remark.
Hit hard by a wide array of UN-imposed sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, Pyongyang justifies its effort by the need to have a strong deterrence against the United States, and its regional allies, including South Korea and Japan.
Washington, for its part, is considering redeploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, breaking away from the doctrine of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and his South Korean counterpart Song Young-moo “discussed the option” of putting nuclear weapons in the country during their meeting in Washington in September.
The USS Michigan Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine is one of the 18 subs active with the US Navy that can be armed with 24 Trident I and Trident II ballistic missiles. Each Trident I can carry up to eight 100 kiloton warheads, while the Trident II carries 14, or eight warheads with a payload of a frightening 475 kilotons.