The United States has decided to strengthen its cooperation with South Korea regarding the use of nuclear weapons to counter North Korean threats. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, met this Wednesday at the White House and signed a joint declaration with the new terms of the agreement. In exchange for the increased role granted, the Seoul government maintains its commitment not to develop its own nuclear weapons.
“The alliance [entre Estados Unidos y Corea del Sur] commits to engage in deeper and more cooperative decision-making on nuclear deterrence, including through enhanced dialogue and information sharing on the growing nuclear threats to the Republic of Korea and the region,” the call reads. Washington Declaration.
Biden and Yoon have pledged to “develop an increasingly strong mutual defense relationship” and have affirmed “in the strongest words possible their commitment to the combined defense posture” under the Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries. “A North Korean nuclear attack against the United States or its allies and partners is unacceptable and will spell the end of any regime that carries out such an action,” Biden said during the post-meeting press conference.
Yoon has met with Biden in the Oval Office of the White House. Both have appeared together in the rose garden for a joint press conference. Tonight, they are holding a state dinner, the second that Biden has granted in his almost two and a half years in office, after that of French President Emmanuel Macron, a few months ago.
The meeting marks the 70th anniversary of the alliance between the two countries, but comes after Pentagon leaks that have shown US pressure for South Korea to take a more active role in supporting Ukraine with weapons. Asked at a press conference about these leaks, Yoon deflected the shot: “We are communicating and sharing the necessary information. I think there is an investigation going on in the United States. We need time to know the results of the investigation, and we will continue to communicate about it ”, he said.
The two presidents have announced the creation of a new Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) to strengthen “enhanced deterrence,” discuss nuclear and strategic planning, and manage the threat posed by North Korea to the non-proliferation regime. The new deal and Seoul’s closer role in coordinating decisions regarding nuclear weapons comes after constant missile tests by the Kim Jong-un regime.
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In addition, the Alliance will work to enable joint planning and execution of South Korea’s conventional support for US nuclear operations in the event of a contingency and enhance combined exercises and training activities on the application of nuclear deterrence on the Korean peninsula.
Biden reaffirms in the statement that the United States’ commitment to the Republic of Korea and “the Korean people is enduring and unwavering,” and that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the Republic of Korea will be met with a “swift, overwhelming, and decisive”.
Nuclear submarine
The US president stresses that the US commitment to broaden deterrence is backed by the full range of US capabilities, including nuclear. “Looking forward, the United States will continue to increase regular visibility of strategic resources on the Korean Peninsula, as evidenced by the upcoming visit of a US ballistic missile nuclear submarine to the Republic of Korea, and will broaden and deepen coordination between our armies,” the statement reads.
In addition, both countries will reinforce the permanent consultation bodies on extended deterrence, including the Consultation and Strategy Group on Extended Deterrence, to better prepare the Alliance to defend against possible attacks and nuclear uses and to carry out simulations that serve as a basis for joint efforts. planning.
The United States pledges to “do everything possible to consult” with South Korea on any possible use of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. For his part, Yoon reaffirms the commitment to respect the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that he assumed half a century ago.
The South Korean president declared earlier this year that his country was considering developing its own nuclear weapons or asking the United States to deploy them on the Korean peninsula. “We are not going to place nuclear weapons on the peninsula,” Biden stressed.
At the height of the Cold War in the late 1970s, US nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles made frequent visits to South Korea, sometimes two or three a month, according to the Federation of American Scientists. It was a period when the United States had hundreds of nuclear warheads located in South Korea.
In 1991, the United States withdrew all its nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula, and the following year Seoul and Pyongyang signed a joint declaration pledging that neither would “test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons.” But as the North has repeatedly violated the joint declaration over the years, support has grown in South Korea for the United States to return the country’s nuclear weapons.
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