US, South Korea conduct anti-submarine warfare exercise near Guam

The U.S. and the Republic of Korea’s navies completed a combined theater anti-submarine warfare exercise this month aimed at improving submarine tracking and engagement, amid heightened nuclear threats from North Korea .

The exercise, known as Silent Shark, comes amidst ever-further engagement between the allies, with the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan visiting Busan this month following a trilateral South Korean-U.S.-Japanese maritime drill.

During Silent Shark, the U.S. Navy’s fast-attack submarine Topeka and South Korea’s diesel-electric submarine Jung Ji teamed up with maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft from the Navy’s Patrol Squadron 8 and South Korea’s Navy squadron 611, according to the U.S. Navy.

“These combined training events maintain our readiness at a high level,” Cmdr. James Fulks, commanding officer of Topeka, said in a Navy news release. “Our increasing interoperability with ROK submarines promotes democracy and provides security for the region.”

The navies conducted the exercise near Guam, allowing Jung Ji to complete several port visits to U.S. Naval Base Guam during the exercise, which first launched in 2007 and is conducted biennially. The fast-attack submarine Annapolis hosted the port visits, the Navy said.

Cmdr. Kim Il-bae, Jung Ji’s commanding officer, called the Silent Shark exercise “fierce, realistic training,” in the Navy release.

“We will deter enemy aggression and are ready to firmly defend our seas,” Kim said.

The Topeka, previously based in Guam, is now homeported at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The exercise wrapped up on Oct. 22, the same day that the U.S., South Korea and Japan conducted its inaugural, trilateral aerial exercise near the Korean Peninsula.

That drill involved a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber from the United States and fighter jets from South Korea and Japan, South Korea’s air force said in a statement.

The exercises come amid concerns that North Korea is pushing to get sophisticated weapons technologies from Russia in exchange for supplying ammunition to refill Russia’s conventional arms stores that have been exhausted by its protracted war with Ukraine.

Such concerns flared after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia’s Far East last month to meet President Vladimir Putin and inspect key weapons-making facilities.

Many experts say Kim would want Russian help to build more reliable weapons systems targeting the U.S. and South Korea.

Washington and Seoul have warned that Moscow and Pyongyang would pay a price if they move ahead with the speculated weapons transfer deal in breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban any weapons trading with North Korea.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

本月，美国和韩国海军完成了一次联合战区反潜作战演习，旨在提高潜艇跟踪和打击能力，以应对朝鲜日益加剧的核威胁。

此次代号为“沉默鲨鱼”的演习正值盟国间合作日益密切之际，本月早些时候，在韩美日三方海上联合演习结束后，美国海军“罗纳德·里根”号航空母舰访问了釜山。

据美国海军称，在“沉默鲨鱼”演习期间，美国海军的快速攻击潜艇“托皮卡”号和韩国的柴电潜艇“郑智”号与美国海军第8巡逻中队和韩国海军第611中队的海上巡逻和侦察飞机进行了联合行动。

“这些联合训练活动使我们保持了高水平的战备状态，”托皮卡号潜艇艇长詹姆斯·富尔克斯中校在海军新闻稿中表示。“我们与韩国潜艇日益增强的互操作性促进了民主，并为该地区提供了安全保障。”

海军在关岛附近海域举行了此次演习，期间“郑智”号潜艇多次访问了美国关岛海军基地。该演习于2007年首次启动，每两年举行一次。海军方面表示，快速攻击潜艇“安纳波利斯”号接待了“郑智”号的访问。

海军发布的消息称，郑智的指挥官金日培中校称“沉默鲨鱼”演习是“激烈、真实的训练”。

金正恩说：“我们将遏制敌人的侵略，并准备坚决捍卫我们的海域。”

“托皮卡”号以前驻扎在关岛，现在母港设在珍珠港-希卡姆联合基地。

此次演习于 10 月 22 日结束，同一天，美国、韩国和日本在朝鲜半岛附近举行了首次三边空中联合演习。

韩国空军在一份声明中表示，此次演习动用了美国的核动力B-52轰炸机以及韩国和日本的战斗机。

此次演习正值外界担忧朝鲜正努力从俄罗斯获取先进武器技术，以换取向俄罗斯提供弹药，从而补充俄罗斯因与乌克兰的长期战争而耗尽的常规武器储备。

上个月，朝鲜领导人金正恩访问俄罗斯远东地区，会见了俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京并视察了重要的武器制造设施，此后，此类担忧愈演愈烈。

许多专家表示，金正恩希望俄罗斯帮助他建立更可靠的、针对美国和韩国的武器系统。

华盛顿和首尔警告说，如果莫斯科和平壤违反联合国安理会禁止与朝鲜进行任何武器交易的决议，执意推进传闻中的武器转让协议，它们将付出代价。

美联社对本报道亦有贡献。