Why a ballistic sub can visit South Korea but not Japan

Former Pentagon official Elbridge Colby called the port call “meaningless” in a recent webinar hosted by the Institute for Korean-American Studies.” A ballistic missile submarine can launch a … missile from anywhere in the ocean and hit a target in China or Russia or North Korea. Its function is to hide, so going to a forward port, if anything, makes it more vulnerable because it’s within the range of Chinese aircraft and missiles. It really adds nothing,” the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development said.

Nikkei Asia