Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Defense minister visits US 5th Carrier Strike Group

Minister highlights a firm ROK-US alliance and ‘Peace through Strength’

On the morning of Saturday, September 24, Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup visited the United States (US) Carrier Strike Group docked at the naval base in Busan, where he offered words of encouragement to the US soldiers and called for the maintenance of a firm ROK-US combined operation posture.

Lee and Paul LaCamera, commander of the Combined Forces Command, took a tour of the inner and outer parts of the Ronald Reagan* carrier strike group, including the hangar, flight deck, and control tower, with the guidance of Michael Donnelly, commander of the 5th carrier strike group, and were briefed in detail on the operation of the carrier.

* Named after Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the US

On the Ronald Reagan Carrier, Lee highlighted the fact that North Korea will face an overwhelming response if it carries out a nuclear attack, saying to the ROK and US soldiers that “this deployment of the US carrier strike group on the Korean Peninsula is a classic example of reaffirming the US’s will and capabilities to fulfill its security commitment to the ROK, regardless of the circumstances.”

Noting that the motto of the carrier is ‘Peace through Strength,’ a key theme of the Reagan administration’s foreign policy, Lee praised the ROK and US officials, including the US commanders, for their hard work, saying that “this motto is in line with the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s security mandate of ‘Peace through Strength, Peace through Deterrence,’ and will greatly contribute to deterring North Korean provocations and maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

In response, Donnelly pledged to “further cement the combined operation posture through the US carrier strike group’s docking and the ROK-US joint military exercises, and prevail against any North Korean provocations with overwhelming capabilities.”

The ROK and US navies will work to improve their interoperability and strengthen their capabilities to carry out the combined maritime operations through actual joint military exercises during this carrier strike group’s visit to the ROK.