The fast-attack submarine USS Alexandria prepares to depart Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, April 5, 2023. (Thomas Gooley/U.S. Navy)
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s state-run media lashed out at the United States on Tuesday over the arrival of a fast-attack submarine in South Korea’s largest port, calling it an “undeniable threat” and an effort to escalate tensions on the peninsula.
The nuclear-powered USS Alexandria, a Los Angeles-class vessel based in San Diego, docked Monday at Busan, about 200 miles southeast of Seoul, U.S. Naval Forces Korea spokesman Lt. j.g. Tony Curtis said by email Tuesday. No additional details were immediately available, he said.
The U.S. is “openly ignoring the security concern of [North Korea],” the Korean Central News Agency reported, adding that Pyongyang will “make clearer our … mode of counteraction against our rivals.”
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff “has no particular opinion” on the North’s remarks, spokesman Nam Ki-soo told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.
Commissioned in 1991, the Alexandria is designed to track and engage enemy vessels. The 6,900-ton submarine is more than 360 feet long and has a crew of 143, according to the U.S. Navy’s website.
American fast-attack submarines carry conventional, rather than nuclear, weapons.
The last U.S. submarine to visit Busan was the Virginia-class USS Vermont, based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. It arrived on Sept. 23 in a visit that Submarine Group 7 said reflected America’s “commitment to the region and complements the many exercises … and other military cooperation activities.”
The U.S. military does not disclose how long its warships remain in South Korea, citing operational security concerns.
North Korea at the time described the Vermont’s visit as a “frantic military and strategic attempt … on intentionally demonstrating the ‘superiority of strength’ before the world,” according to KCNA.
In July, then-Presidents Joe Biden and Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea reaffirmed their commitment to Seoul’s defense and agreed that any nuclear attack by Pyongyang “will be met with a swift, overwhelming and decisive response,” according to a joint statement.
North Korea has test-fired at least three ballistic missiles this year, according to the South Korean military. The communist regime last launched several short-range ballistic missiles off its eastern coast on Jan. 14. The missiles flew approximately 155 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
