US nuclear submarine arrives in South Korea amid tensions with neighbour

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan approaches a naval base in Busan, South Korea (Gang Duck-chul/Yonhap via AP)

The United States deployed a nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying about 150 Tomahawk missiles to South Korea on Friday, a day after North Korea resumed missile tests.

The USS Michigan’s arrival in South Korea, the first of its kind in six years, is part of a recent bilateral agreement on enhancing “regular visibility” of US strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear programme, according to South Korean officials.