SEOUL, President Yoon Suk Yeol boarded a visiting U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Tuesday ahead of joint drills between South Korea, the United States and Japan aimed at enhancing their responses against rising threats from North Korea.
Yoon visited the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), which has made a port call at a naval port in the southeastern city of Busan. The carrier is set to participate in a trilateral naval drill, dubbed Freedom Edge, the first-ever trilateral multidomain exercise, which kicks off on Wednesday.
Yoon said the aircraft carrier’s visit is part of “extended deterrence” measures outlined in the Washington Declaration adopted at his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in April last year.
Extended deterrence refers to Washington’s commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend its ally.
“It symbolizes the firm U.S. security commitment to South Korea, including strong extended deterrence,” Yoon was quoted as saying.
The air
craft carrier’s visit came amid rising concerns over evolving threats posed by North Korea after it signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation treaty with Russia, which includes a pledge for the two countries to come to each other’s aid if attacked.
Yoon stressed the importance of enhancing trilateral security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan.
“The cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, which share the values of liberal democracy, will become another powerful deterrent alongside the South Korea-U.S. alliance,” he said.
This marks the third time an incumbent South Korean president has boarded a U.S. aircraft carrier, following former President Park Chung-hee in 1974 and President Kim Young-sam in 1994, according to the presidential office.
Earlier in the day, Yoon condemned the deepening military and economic cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow as “anachronistic” acts that go against the progress in history and blatantly violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Source: Yonhap N
ews Agency