- Sputnik International
Asia
Find top stories and features from Asia and the Pacific region. Keep updated on major political stories and analyses from Asia and the Pacific. All you want to know about China, Japan, North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

US Deploys Advanced Warship to Japan With Kim-Trump Talks Looming

© REUTERS / Issei KatoThe USS Milius (DDG69) guided-missile destroyer arrives to join the Forward Deployed Naval Force (FDNS) at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Japan May 22, 2018
The USS Milius (DDG69) guided-missile destroyer arrives to join the Forward Deployed Naval Force (FDNS) at the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, Japan May 22, 2018 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The state-of-the-art US guided missile destroyer Milius is touted as part of the US Navy's first line of defense in East Asia to contain a possible missile strike by North Korea.

The USS Milius has arrived at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan to "support security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by bringing enhanced missile defense capabilities," according to a statement by the US Navy.

One of the most advanced warships of the US Navy, the Milius is thought to be part of the US's first line of defense against a potential ballistic missile attack by North Korea.

READ MORE: Moon, Trump Discuss Pyongyang’s Threat to Cancel US-North Korea Summit

The vehicle's deployment comes ahead of high-level talks in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un scheduled for June 12.

On May 16, North Korean First Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan made it clear that Pyongyang would reconsider its upcoming meeting with President Trump over provocative statements by US high-ranking officials, most notably John Bolton, who proposed a scheme of "abandoning nuclear weapons first, compensating afterwards" in the talks with North Korea.

READ MORE: White House 'Still Hopeful' Meeting Between Trump, Kim to Take Place

Earlier, North Korea canceled ministerial-level talks with Seoul in a move that was followed by Kim Kye-gwan's announcement that Pyongyang might cancel the Trump-Kim summit if Washington continued its hostile anti-Pyongyang policy.

In this image released by the White House, then-CIA director Mike Pompeo shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, North Korea, during a 2018 East weekend trip. - Sputnik International
Asia
Pompeo Vows to Discuss Release of US Detainees in DPRK Ahead of Trump-Kim Summit
The summit was put at risk on May 11 when the United States and South Korea launched a two-week annual air combat regional exercise codenamed "Max Thunder," which was seen by Pyongyang as a threat to its security.

Fresh frictions in US and South Korean diplomatic relations with Pyongyang emerged just weeks after a historic meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea on April 27, when Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in signed the Declaration for Peace, Prosperity, and Unification on the Korean Peninsula.

The document stipulates the two Koreas sticking to a nuclear-free peninsula and efforts to formally wrap up the Korean War.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала