U.S. ships gather in waters nearer to Korean Peninsula

Defense

Published: 24 Jan. 2022, 19:06

U.S. ships gather in waters nearer to Korean Peninsula

The aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt and Nimitz, and their multi-ship strike group,s undertake four days of exercises in November 2017 in the waters between South Korea and Japan. [U.S. NAVY]

Three U.S. aircraft carriers and two amphibious assault ships have been tracked to Northeast Asia, near the Korean Peninsula, according to a U.S. naval organization, raising speculation that the United States is trying to send a warning to North Korea about its recent flurry of missile tests by concentrating its military assets in the region.

According to a Jan. 18 post by the United States Naval Institute, a non-profit professional military organization that organizes forums on strategic issues, the western Pacific is host to three out of four U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers on overseas missions.

A map by the United States Naval Institute shows the concentration of U.S. carrier strike groups in the western Pacific, close to the Korean Peninsula. [USNI]

The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group (CSG), named after the supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan, is stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, while the Abraham Lincoln CSG and Carl Vinson CSG are in the Philippine Sea.

Only the Harry S. Truman CSG is underway in the Ionian Sea.

The Abraham Lincoln and Carl Vinson CSGs in the Philippine Sea are also accompanied by the America Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) and the Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG).

The number of U.S. ships in the region is almost twice as many as during the height of peak U.S.-North Korea tensions under the previous administration of President Donald Trump, when three carriers — the USS Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt and Nimitz — and their multi-ship strike groups undertook four days of exercises in November 2017 in the waters between South Korea and Japan.

That presence led the North’s then-ambassador to the United Nations, Ja Song-nam, to complain that the United States was pushing the region closer to war.

In a letter to the United Nations secretary general, Ja wrote that the United States was “running amok for war exercises by introducing nuclear war equipment in and around the Korean Peninsula, thereby proving that the United States itself is the major offender of the escalation of tension and undermining of the peace.”

While Trump’s administration made clear that the purpose of deploying three aircraft carriers to waters off the Korean Peninsula was to show U.S. resolve in the face of North Korean nuclear and missile testing, with Admiral Scott Swift, then-commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, describing the exercises as “a strong testament to the U.S. Pacific Fleet's unique ability and ironclad commitment to the continued security and stability of the region,” the current administration of President Joe Biden has made no explicit comment about the concentration of its military assets in the Western Pacific.

Nevertheless, the public disclosure of the ships’ movements, and their unusual concentration in countries in relatively close proximity to the Korean Peninsula, are seen by experts as a sign the United States is signaling its readiness to respond to events on the Korean Peninsula.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has signaled its willingness to apply additional pressure on Pyongyang for conducting ballistic missile tests in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The United States last week convened a closed-door Security Council meeting to call for additional sanctions on five North Korean individuals for abetting the North’s missile program.

However, that motion was placed on hold by China and Russia, two other permanent members of the Security Council.

China said it needed more time to review the motion, while Russia said the United States needed to provide more evidence to back its proposal.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]