U.S. guided-missile destroyer visits South Korea

• Published date: 05 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

A U.S. guided-missile destroyer visited South Korea's southern island of Jeju last week, the U.S. Pacific Command said Sunday, in an apparent show of force and a warning to North Korea against missile provocations.

It said the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta docked at Jeju on Monday last week and left the island Friday after a "scheduled port visit."

Rafael Peralta, the 9,200-ton forward-deployed vessel commissioned in 2017, is the U.S. 7th Fleet's principal surface force, capable of a variety of missions from intercepting low- and high-altitude missiles and attacking fighter jets to conducting anti-submarine warfare with two MH-60 Seahawk helicopters on board.

Its Jeju stay coincides with the visit of the 6,000-ton Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Springfield to the southern port of Busan from Feb. 23-March 1.

"Rafael Peralta's visit underscores the strategic...