ANKARA
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday boarded a US nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine at a naval base in the port city of Busan, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles.
This came a day after the 18,750-ton Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) – the USS Kentucky – arrived in the southeastern port city in the first visit by a US SSBN since 1981.
Yoon's gesture sought to send a "strong" warning to Pyongyang, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.
"The USS Kentucky's deployment shows clearly the commitment of South Korea and the United States to regularly deploy US strategic assets and strengthen the credibility of extended deterrence," Yoon said during his visit with the Republic of Korea Fleet Command headquartered at the base.
"The two countries will overwhelmingly and resolutely respond to North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats through the NCG and regular deployments of strategic assets, such as the SSBN," he added.
Earlier, South Korea's military said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang from where ballistic missiles flew some 550 kilometers (some 341 miles) before splashing into the sea which South Korea calls the East Sea and Tokyo calls the Sea of Japan.
Pyongyang's launch of the missiles came, in an apparent protest, hours after the arrival of a US nuclear-capable submarine in South Korea.
The latest missile launch also came just a day after Seoul and Washington held the first meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) condemned the missile launches and called them "acts of significant provocation" harming peace in the region.
"Our military will maintain a firm readiness posture based on capabilities to respond overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocations," the agency said, citing a JCS statement.
Japan also condemns missile launches
Meanwhile, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada also confirmed that the missiles flew for up to 600 kilometers (372 miles) with a peak altitude of some 50 kilometers (31 miles) and apparently fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
He said they may have traveled on an irregular trajectory.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also condemned the latest launch and said North Korea violated the UN Security Council resolutions which ban it from developing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons and said Pyongyang threatens "peace and stability in the international community."
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that one of its service members was taken into custody in North Korea after crossing the militarized border while on a tour.
The soldier, who has not been publicly identified, "willfully and without authorization crossed the military demarcation line," Austin told reporters at the Pentagon.
However, so far North Korea has not commented on or confirmed the incident.
Last week, North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, claiming to have set a new record flight time of 74 minutes and 51 seconds, the longest for a North Korean missile.
Pyongyang has launched 14 missiles this year, including the intercontinental ballistic-class Hwasong-15, Hwasong-17, and Hwasong-18 missiles, as well as its first military spy satellite in May, though it crashed into the Korean Sea.
Washington and Seoul agreed in April to establish the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) to discuss nuclear and strategic planning between the allies, and strengthen the credibility of the US extended deterrence commitment to defending South Korea with all of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons.
*Islamuddin Sajid, Aamir Latif and Riyaz ul Khaliq contributed to the story.
