South Korea reaffirmed on Tuesday that Seoul and Washington are discussing Seoul’s participation in U.S. nuclear asset management in the context of escalating nuclear threats from North Korea, after President Joe Biden disputed that the allies were discussing joint nuclear exercises.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opened the new year with a pledge to mass-produce nuclear weapons for use on the battlefield against South Korea and to introduce a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland. Some experts believe Kim will eventually attempt to utilize his augmented arsenal to extract concessions from the international community, such as sanctions relief.
In a newspaper interview published on Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated that the two countries were pressing for collaborative planning and training including U.S. nuclear assets and that the United States responded favourably to the notion.
Later, when asked by a reporter at the White House if the two nations were discussing combined nuclear drills, Biden responded, “No.”
President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, on the right, meets Joe Biden.
Kim Eun-hye, Yoon’s top assistant for press affairs, issued a statement on Tuesday stating that Seoul and Washington are discussing intelligence sharing, joint planning, and following combined execution plans in response to North Korea’s nuclear threats.
Kim stated that Biden probably responded “no” since a reporter asked him about a nuclear exercise without providing any context.
Yoon stated in the Chosun Ilbo interview that while the United States owns the nuclear weapons, planning, intelligence sharing, and drills must be handled jointly with South Korea. With the current level of U.S. security commitment, he stated that it is difficult for him to guarantee the safety of his people.
South Korea possesses no nuclear weapons and is protected by a “nuclear umbrella” from the United States, which assures a devastating American retaliation in the case of an assault on its ally. However, other experts question the effectiveness of such a security guarantee, stating that the president of the United States makes the decision to use nuclear weapons.
Initially, a reporter asked President Biden if the two nations were discussing combined nuclear drills, to which Biden replied, “No.”
The office of Yoon provided little specifics regarding his government’s discussions with the United States. In times of heightened tensions with North Korea, some observers believe South Korea want a larger involvement in the U.S. decision-making process about the deployment of its nuclear capabilities.
Former chairman of Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification Kim Taewoo stated that the alleged South Korea-U.S. talks likely “benchmarked a NATO-style nuclear-sharing agreement” that permits NATO member nations’ jets to transport U.S. nuclear weapons. He stated that the dialogue looks to be falling short of the NATO agreement, since possible nuclear exercises between the two nations would likely involve South Korean air force aircraft escorting U.S. planes simulating nuclear strikes during joint drills.
“North Korea would respond delicately to this. South Korea and the United States are discussing this issue in an effort to persuade North Korea to take it seriously… “because that may serve as a deterrent against North Korea,” said Kim Taewoo.
According to him, South Korea and the United States are probably using unofficial channels to discuss the issue. He stated that this allows South Korea to pretend it is discussing the problem with the United States while allowing Washington to reject it.
North Korea conducted a record number of weapons tests by firing a range of ballistic missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, as well as its allies South Korea and Japan, in 2013. In September, North Korea also passed a new law enabling the preemptive use of nuclear nukes in a wide variety of situations, including non-military ones.
After their annual meeting in November, the defense chiefs of the United States and South Korea issued a joint statement reaffirming the U.S. commitment to providing extended deterrence to South Korea and deploying U.S. strategic assets in a timely and coordinated manner as needed, as well as identifying new steps to strengthen deterrence against North Korean threats. The declaration also included their commitment to strengthen the alliance’s information-sharing, cooperative planning, and implementation.
Kim Jong Un ordered the “exponential” expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal and the mass-production of tactical nuclear weapons tasked with attacking South Korea, as well as the development of a new ICBM tasked with having a “quick nuclear counterstrike” capability — a weapon he needs to strike the mainland, North Korea’s state media reported on Sunday.