US aircraft carrier arrives in South Korea to show off power, send message to North Korea?

Yonhap quoted an announcement from the US Navy saying that the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the naval base in Busan, 320 km southeast of Seoul, early this morning, June 22 (local time), along with two destroyers equipped with the Aegis defense system, the USS Halsey and the USS Daniel Inouye.

The US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt arrives at the naval base in the port city of Busan (South Korea) on June 22.

This is the first appearance of a US aircraft carrier in South Korea in seven months since the USS Carl Vinson visited in November 2023. This is also the first time the USS Theodore Roosevelt has made a port call in Busan. The aircraft carrier participated in a trilateral naval exercise between South Korea, the US and Japan in April.

The US Navy stressed that the latest visit of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier is to fulfill the US's "rock-solid" extended deterrence commitment and strengthen the US-ROK combined defense posture as well as the will to respond sternly to "growing threats from North Korea".

The USS Theodore Roosevelt's port visit to Busan comes as the three countries are set to hold their first trilateral joint exercise, called Freedom Edge, later this month, as they seek to strengthen security cooperation against "North Korean threats," according to Yonhap.

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The three sides agreed to launch the Freedom Edge exercise during trilateral talks held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore earlier this month. According to the agreement, the Freedom Edge exercise will cover various domains, including air, sea, underwater and cyber, according to Yonhap.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tau-san-bay-my-den-han-quoc-pho-dien-suc-manh-gui-thong-diep-cho-trieu-tien-185240622101401844.htm