The US military is sending the big guns to South Korea after Kim Jong-un's latest stunts

pulse

February 16, 2017 2:44 PM

The two sides have agreed to send such weapons as the F-22 stealth fighter and a nuclear-powered submarine.

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Days after North Korea tested a new, dangerous missile type and allegedly engaged agents to assassinate Kim Jong Un's half-brother in Malaysia, the US plans to send the big guns to the Pacific in a massive show of force.

The USS Carl Vinson has been making its way to the Pacific, and it will be joined by the world's most lethal combat plane, the F-22s, a nuclear-powered submarine, and possibly B-1 and B-2 nuclear-capable bombers.

"The two sides have agreed to send such weapons as the F-22 stealth fighter and a nuclear-powered submarine to the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises in March," a defense official told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

US and South Korean forces will participate in military drills together to enhance readiness and test their ability to defend against North Korean missile attacks — an ability recently challenged by North Korea's latest missile advance.

Key Resolve and Foal Eagle represent two annual major military drills carried out by US and South Korean troops that regularly rile up North Korea, who usually threaten some sort of "catastrophic outcome" to what they see as a US-initiated provocation.

The South Koreans intend to spend $114 million developing an electromagnetic pulse weapon to cripple North Korea's command and control abilities as well as laser weapons systems to pull off a surgical strike on the country's nuclear missile facilities, Yonhap reported.

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