Amid tension over Kim Jong-un tests, a US missile destroyer arrived in South Korea

A American guided missile destroyer this week visited the city of Jeju, in southern South Koreaaccording to what local media reported this Sunday, in a new apparent demonstration of his abilities in Full growing tension with North Korea.

The destroyer Arleigh Burke-class USS Rafael Peralta arrived in Jeju on Monday, February 27, and left the island on Friday after “a scheduled visit,” according to information provided this weekend by the United States Pacific Command after his departure.

The mentioned destroyer, of 9,200 tons, It is one of the principal ships of the United States Seventh Fleet and is capable of performing numerous missions, from intercepting low and high altitude missiles to attacking fighter jets or conducting underwater combat with two MH-60 Seahawk helicopters on board.

Your stay in Jeju coincided with the visit of the nuclear powered submarine USS Springfieldwhich docked on the same island on February 23 and left on March 1.

“Rafael Peralta’s visit underscores the strategic importance of South Korea in guaranteeing a free and open Indo-Pacific, by allowing presence, secured access, and defense of the commons,” the Pacific Command said in a statement about the visit. posted on their website.

Visits to South Korea “allow the US Navy to strengthen relationships with like-minded allies and improve interoperability between the two countries”, he added.

The passage of this new US strategic asset through the Korean peninsula seems destined to be a new show of military muscle and warning for North Korea.

The US and South Korea are preparing to carry out as of the 13th large-scale maneuvers for more than ten daysto which the North Korean regime usually responds with weapons tests, considering them a threat to its sovereignty.

“(The exercise) freedom shield it is designed to strengthen the alliance’s defense and response capabilities,” he explained at a press conference in Seoul, in which the spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Lee Sung-jun, and the spokesperson for the Korean Forces Americans in Korea (USFK), Isaac Taylor.

Taylor indicated that the premise of the exercise will focus on elements such as “the changing security environment, the aggressions of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (official name of the North) and the lessons learned from recent wars and conflicts.” During the 11 days in which the Freedom shield will take place, a series of “large-scale” maneuvers will also be carried out on the ground that have “regained the scale of Foal eagle” and which will receive the name of Warrior shield.

In addition, on Friday, the Seoul and Washington Air Forces conducted maneuvers with an American B-1 strategic bomber and South Korean fighter jets at a time marked by enormous tension on the peninsula.

The exercises were carried out over the Yellow Sea (called the West Sea in both Koreas) and the central region of South Korea and involved, in addition to the B-1, F-15 and F-15 fighters from the Asian country, he explained. the South Korean Ministry of National Defense in a statement.

Pyongyang has been strongly protesting the movement of assets to the peninsula with tests of missiles and other weapons, as well as the joint maneuvers by Washington and Seoul, which it has accused of being the reason for the persistent tension in the region.

Just today, a senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official accused the allies of raising tension “to an extremely dangerous level” and urged the UN to call for an immediate cessation of the maneuvers, which the regime would consider “a first step.” to promote sustainable détente.”

(With information from EFE)

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