WASHINGTON- South Korean lawmakers have been wondering whether fault lines might emerge in US-South Korean military ties as tensions on the Korean Peninsula grow, but have been reassured that the US actually plans to increase the number of its “strategic” military assets in their region by the end of the year.
“The US has pledged to expand the rotational deployment of its strategic assets near the Korean Peninsula,” Chung Eiu-young, chief of South Korea’s National Security Office, told lawmakers Wednesday, according to Yonhap.
A document has been signed by US personnel stating the US would make good on its promise, the South Korean news agency said.
The “strategic” assets would comprise an aircraft carrier, nuclear Ohio-class submarines, B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, and F-22 Raptors, the US military’s de facto air superiority fighter, reports Chosun, a South Korean newspaper. Each Ohio-class sub carries 20 D-5 Trident ballistic missiles; one Trident can carry up to 12 nuclear warheads.