An American nuclear submarine arrived in South Korea for the third time this year. Shortly after the warship arrived in South Korea, North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile. 

On Sunday, Yonhap News reported the Virginia-class submarine USS Missouri arrived at a South Korean port. In July, the Pentagon had an Ohio-class attack submarine – a warship equipped with nuclear weapons – make a port call in South Korea. Last month, a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine made a stop at the Korean Peninsula.

Shortly before the Missouri arrived in South Korea, the Biden administration issued a statement reaffirming it would use nuclear weapons to defend Seoul. “The US reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to provide extended deterrence to [South Korea], backed by the full range of US capabilities including nuclear,” the White House stated on Saturday. 

“Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies is unacceptable and will result in the end of the Kim regime, and the US side reiterated that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the ROK will be met with a swift, overwhelming, and decisive response.”

The deployments have drawn Pyongyang’s sharp criticism. In response to the USS Missouri arriving in South Korea, the Ministry of National Defense of North Korea issued a statement, slamming the US and South Korea as “military gangsters.” 

“The US and the military gangsters of the Republic of Korea, who have aggravated the situation in the Korean peninsula with their reckless military provocations such as deployment of nuclear strike means and large-scale joint military drills throughout this year, are going to finish the end of the year with a preview of a nuclear war,” it said. “Clear is the intention of the US which dispatched the nuclear-powered submarine Missouri to the Korean peninsula as soon as it hatched a dangerous plot for a nuclear war in Washington.”

Pyongyang additionally conducted a ballistic missile test after the Missouri’s arrival. The short-range missile was fired from near Pyongyang and landed in the ocean. 

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have skyrocketed since President Biden took office and relaunched provocative military drills and strategic weapons deployments with Seoul. Pyongyang views the myriad US-led military exercises as preparation for a regime change war in North Korea.