U.S., South Korea sign nuclear deterrence guidelines against rising North Korea threat

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U.S., South Korea sign nuclear deterrence guidelines against rising North Korea threat
by Thomas Maresca
Washington DC (UPI) Jul 12, 2024

U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that any nuclear attack by North Korea would be met with a "swift, overwhelming and decisive response," as they authorized a new set of guidelines on deterrence strategy.

The leaders met on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday and discussed the agreement, according to a joint statement.

"The presidents reaffirmed their commitments in the U.S.-ROK Washington Declaration and highlighted that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the ROK will be met with a swift, overwhelming and decisive response," the joint statement said.

The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are the official names of South Korea and North Korea, respectively.

"President Biden reiterated that the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence to the ROK is backed by the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear," the statement added.

The new guidelines follow up on last year's creation of a joint Nuclear Consultative Group to bolster bilateral planning and responses to North Korean aggression. Washington has worked to reassure Seoul that its nuclear umbrella will be sufficient to protect South Korea.

The text, which was not released publicly, formalizes the deployment of U.S. nuclear assets on the Korean Peninsula, Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said at a press briefing in Washington.

"This is the first time that the United States has clearly stated in writing that U.S. nuclear assets will be assigned to tasks to deter North Korea's nuclear weapons and respond to North Korea's nuclear weapons," Kim said.

"The ROK-U.S. alliance, which has been based on conventional forces, has been firmly upgraded to a nuclear-based alliance in name and reality," he added.

The agreement comes amid mounting concerns over the military relationship between North Korea and Russia, which is centered around Pyongyang's shipment of munitions to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a defense pact in Pyongyang last month, which calls for extending military aid "without delay" if either country is attacked.

At a NATO public forum on Thursday, Yoon called North Korea-Russia cooperation a "collusion of convenience."

"The missiles and artillery shells that North Korea is supplying to Russia will prolong the war in Ukraine, and Russia's potential military technology and economic assistance in return threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the Northeast Asia region," he said.

During the summit, Yoon also met on the sidelines with leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with whom he agreed to share information on North Korean weapons used in Russia's war in Ukraine.