[UPDATE Tuesday] On Monday NBC reported that the USS Fitzgerald would be moved to the area but is now reporting that the Fitzgerald was only among the ships under consideration for the deployment.
Officials tellNBC News that the U.S. Navy is shifting the USS Fitzgerald — a guided-missile destroyer in the Pacific Ocean — amid ongoing North Korean threats.
From Barbara Starr of CNN:
The U.S. Navy is moving at least one warship closer to the North Korean coastline and more may be on the way, CNN has learned. The SBX-1 radar, a sea-based platform with a radar on top, is also on the move.
A Defense Department official told Starr that the U.S. deployed the radar to monitor North Korean military moves, specifically missile launches the U.S. believes may happen in the coming weeks.
The USS Fitzgerald, which is capable of intercepting and destroying a missile, was also moved in December to defend against a North Korean rocket launch.
On Sunday an unspecified number of F-22 stealth fighter jets arrived in South Korea to take part in annual military exercises.
The presence of fighters and warships near the Korean peninsula are the latest in U.S. deterrents to Pyongyang’s alleged attack plan (to target four U.S. towns) in addition to being a demonstration of American capabilities should the need for intervention arise.
Reutersreports that the South has changed its rules of engagement to allow its local units to respond immediately to attacks without receiving permission from Seoul.
On Monday the White House said that North Korean military forces have not made any large-scale troops movements in the aftermath of Friday's belligerent rhetoric.
SEE ALSO: North Korea Has Been Holding This US Navy Ship Captive For 45 Years >
SEE ALSO: US: North Korea Warmongering Just More Bluster
Please follow Military & Defense on Twitter and Facebook.