Minister of National Defense and Combined Forces Commander Visit US Aircraft Carrier... Demonstrating Alliance Amid North Korea SLBM Developments

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] On the 24th, Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop visited the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), which arrived at Busan Naval Base the previous day, to receive a briefing on carrier operations and urged the maintenance of a strong ROK-U.S. combined operational posture.

Accompanying Minister Lee was General Paul J. LaCamera, Commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command. Amid military authorities detecting North Korea’s preparations for a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launch, the top military leaders of South Korea and the U.S. visited the U.S.’s representative strategic asset, the aircraft carrier, together to emphasize a robust combined defense posture.

Minister Lee, along with Commander LaCamera, was guided by Michael Donnelly, Commander of the 5th Carrier Strike Group, to tour the hangar deck, flight deck, control tower, and bridge of the USS Ronald Reagan. Notably, they visited the Combat Information Center (CIC) to receive a briefing on the operational readiness of the entire carrier strike group, covering maritime, air, and underwater domains. A military official explained that the disclosure of the U.S. carrier’s CIC is highly unusual.

At the Reagan’s bridge, Minister Lee addressed ROK and U.S. troops, stating, “The deployment of this U.S. carrier strike group to the Korean Peninsula is a representative example demonstrating the capability and will that the U.S. security commitment to the Republic of Korea will be firmly upheld under any circumstances.” He warned that if North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face an overwhelming response from the ROK-U.S. alliance. He also recalled that the Reagan’s motto was “Peace through Strength,” the foreign policy principle during the Reagan administration, emphasizing, “This aligns with our Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s security principle of ‘Peace through Strength and Deterrence.’”

Commander Donnelly assured Minister Lee, “Through the arrival of the U.S. carrier strike group and ROK-U.S. combined exercises, we will further strengthen our combined operational posture and decisively defeat any provocations by North Korea with overwhelming capability.”

The 100,000-ton USS Ronald Reagan, commissioned in 2003, carries approximately 90 aircraft including F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters, E-2D Hawkeye early warning aircraft, and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, with about 5,000 crew members onboard, earning it the nickname “floating military base.”

The ROK and U.S. navies plan to conduct realistic combined exercises during the carrier strike group’s visit to enhance interoperability and strengthen combined maritime operational capabilities.

The combined exercises will also involve the guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52), and the nuclear-powered submarine USS Annapolis (SSN-760, approximately 6,000 tons).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.