Kim Yo Jong, Vice Department Director of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, condemned the deployment of the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), to the Korean Peninsula last Sunday. She accused the U.S. of continuously setting new records for military demonstrations and threatened that North Korea would do the same in exercising its strategic deterrence.
In a statement published Tuesday in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling party, Kim declared that “the United States habitually ignores the security concerns of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and persistently engages in provocative acts that escalate tensions.”
Kim pointed out that this marks the second deployment of U.S. nuclear strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula this year, following the deployment of the USS Alexandria, a nuclear-powered submarine. She also noted that the USS Theodore Roosevelt was the last U.S. aircraft carrier deployed in the region eight months ago, in June of the previous year. Kim further claimed that the presence of U.S. strategic bombers makes it evident that the U.S. is effectively deploying strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula on a near-permanent basis.
Kim stated that “the U.S. policy of hostility toward North Korea, reinforced through its military actions, fully justifies our unlimited strengthening of nuclear deterrence.” She warned, “We will not just sit idly by and comment on the situation.”
She further asserted that the continuous deployment of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula has become a dangerous pattern. She vowed that North Korea would take countermeasures to protect its security interests. She warned that Pyongyang is seriously considering escalating its strategic actions to impact its adversaries’ security directly.
Kim also criticized the Trump administration, arguing that it has continued the “hostile policy” of the Biden administration toward North Korea. This suggests that North Korea’s stance toward the U.S. remains unchanged and that Pyongyang seeks to pressure Washington into making the first move to alter its approach.
She reiterated her warning: “Our enemies must not attempt to test our determination and capability to defend our nation’s sovereignty and security interests by any means at their disposal.”
The USS Carl Vinson, a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, arrived at Busan Port on Sunday. This marks the first deployment of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the Korean Peninsula since Trump began his second term in office.