[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Three US Aircraft Carriers Simultaneously Gathered Around the Korean Peninsula

First Since North Korea's 6th Nuclear Test in 2017
Possibility of Trilateral Naval Joint Exercise with US, South Korea, and Japan Deploying Aircraft Carriers

Three U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers have gathered near the Korean Peninsula. This is the first time since North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test in 2017 that three carriers have assembled.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to USNI News, a military-focused media outlet operated by the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) entered the 7th Fleet operational area last weekend. The carrier was detected in the Pacific Ocean southeast of Japan. With the Roosevelt’s entry, three carriers including the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) are now conducting missions within the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet operational area, which includes the Korean Peninsula.

Although this time the three carriers are not deployed within the Korean operational area, experts analyze that the U.S. decision to add a carrier to the 7th Fleet area despite tensions in the Middle East?such as the Israel-Hamas (Palestinian armed faction) war and the threat posed by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel forces in Yemen’s Red Sea?serves as a warning against North Korean provocations. In 2017, the U.S. also deployed three carriers to the East Sea Korean Theater of Operations (KTO) to conduct joint South Korea-U.S. exercises.

In this context, it appears increasingly likely that South Korea, the U.S., and Japan will conduct additional trilateral maritime joint exercises involving carriers operating within the 7th Fleet operational area. Since the beginning of the year, North Korea has continued provocations including artillery fire in the West Sea buffer zone, launches of solid-fuel hypersonic medium-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), the announcement of tests for the underwater nuclear weapons system ‘Haeil-5-23,’ and on the 24th, multiple cruise missile launches into the West Sea. Moreover, Chairman Kim Jong-un has threatened that he has no intention of avoiding war.

There is also analysis that this move is a response to China’s pressure targeting Taiwan, such as joint military exercises conducted in airspace and waters around Taiwan following the Taiwanese presidential election.

Professor Park Won-gon of Ewha Womans University’s Department of North Korean Studies explained, “The U.S. deploying three carriers in one region has multiple purposes. Since the Middle East and Ukraine wars show no signs of escalation and are taking on a protracted nature, the U.S. is making efforts to refocus on deterrence in the Asia-Pacific region.”

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