In response to concerns over North Korea’s expanding arsenal of missiles and bombs, the United States promised on Wednesday to provide South Korea with more information on its nuclear planning in the event of a fight with the country.
The declaration was made following discussions between South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden in the White House that included topics like North Korea, trade in semiconductor chips, and the conflict in Ukraine. The announcement also included Seoul’s reaffirmation of its commitment not to develop its own nuclear weapon.
In response to concerns over Pyongyang’s expanding arsenal of missiles and bombs, the United States promised on Wednesday to provide South Korea with more information on its nuclear planning in the event of a fight with the country.
“Our two countries have agreed to immediate bilateral presidential consultations in the event of North Korea’s nuclear attack and promised to respond swiftly, overwhelmingly and decisively using the full force of the alliance, including the United States’ nuclear weapons,” Yoon said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has rejected the United States’ offer to meet with him to discuss its nuclear and missile programmes, an offer reinforced by Biden.
Holding off North Korea
There have been concerns expressed about whether Washington will actually deploy its nuclear weapons to defend South Korea under what it terms “extended deterrence” in light of North Korea’s quickly developing weapons programmes, which include ballistic missiles that can potentially reach US cities.
A majority of South Koreans, according to opinion polls, favour Seoul acquiring its own nuclear weapons, a move that Washington opposes.
Through a US-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group, the US will provide Seoul with thorough insights into and a voice in US contingency planning to prevent and address any nuclear crisis in the region, according to a new “Washington Declaration,” according to US officials.
In a show of force, Washington will also send a ballistic-missile submarine to South Korea; this will be the first visit by a submarine since the 1980s, according to American officials. However, Biden made it clear that there will be no American nuclear weapons deployed in South Korea.
“I have absolute authority as commander in chief and the sole authority to use a nuclear weapon, but … what the declaration means is that we’re going to make every effort to consult with our allies when it’s appropriate, if any action is so called for,” the President said.
The agreed-upon measures fall short of what some South Koreans have demanded and are “unlikely to either persuade North Korea off its current course of WMD development and testing or to quiet the debate inside South Korea about its own nuclear future,” according to Jenny Town of the Washington-based 38 North North Korea monitoring organisation.
US officials made it plain that no nuclear weapons would ever be brought back to the peninsula and that South Korea would never have access to the country’s nuclear stockpile.
Yoon is the second state visitor that Biden has welcomed since taking office two years ago; the first being the president of France.
