WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden and South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Suk Yeol revealed a new strategy to fight North Korea's nuclear threat on Wednesday, with the US leader making a frank warning that such an assault would "result in the end of whatever regime" took such action.
The new nuclear deterrent strategy asks for the docking of US nuclear-armed submarines in South Korea on a regular basis for the first time in decades, as well as increased training between the two countries. The proclamation was issued as Biden welcomed Yoon for a state visit at a time of growing concern over North Korea's escalating pace of ballistic missile launches.
“A nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies and partners is unacceptable, and will result in the end of whatever regime were to take such an action,” Biden said during afternoon Rose Garden news conference with Yoon.
Yoon stated that the "righteous alliance" has made a new commitment that includes plans for bilateral presidential consultations in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack, the formation of a nuclear consultative group, and improved sharing of information on nuclear and strategic weapons operation plans.
According to three senior Biden administration officials who briefed reporters ahead of the announcement, Biden and Yoon aides have been working on details of the plan for months and agreed that "occasional" and "very clear demonstrations of the strength" of US extended deterrence capabilities needed to be an essential component of the agreement.
The so-called Washington Declaration, according to officials, was intended to allay South Korean concerns about the North's aggressive nuclear weapons program and to prevent the country from restarting its own nuclear program, which it abandoned nearly 50 years ago when it signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Yoon previously stated that his country was considering building its own nuclear weapons or requesting the US to redeploy them on the Korean Peninsula.
In the event that the North attacks the South, the US and South Korea would collaborate more closely on nuclear response strategy—but operational control of such weapons would stay in US hands, and no nuclear weapons would be stationed on South Korean soil.
“We are not going to be stationing nuclear weapons on the peninsula,” Biden underscored.
Biden stated that collaboration between the US and South Korea is critical in light of escalating North Korean threats and flagrant violations of UN sanctions. The president said that the US is still willing to hold "substantial" negotiations with the North without preconditions.
The latest agreement, according to Rob Soofer, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, includes vital moves but may not entirely resolve the "underlying dilemma that provokes South Korean angst over the US nuclear umbrella."
The official visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the nations' alliance, which began at the end of the Korean War and pledged the US to assisting South Korea in defending itself, notably against North Korea. Currently, approximately 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea.
The pact also asks for the United States and South Korea to improve cooperative training and better incorporate South Korean military capabilities into the combined strategic deterrent operation. South Korea will renew its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a treaty signed by many major nuclear and non-nuclear states that vowed cooperation to halt the spread of nuclear technology, according to authorities.
As a presidential candidate last year, Yoon committed to enhance the deployment of US bombers, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines to South Korea in order to provide a harder response to North Korean threats than his predecessor, Moon Jae-in.
Biden and Yoon, as well as their advisers, addressed Russia's ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The Biden administration has hailed South Korea for delivering $230 million in humanitarian relief to Kyiv, but Biden would want Seoul to play a larger role in assisting Ukraine in repelling Russia.
Yoon's visit comes just weeks after dozens of highly confidential papers were leaked, complicating relations with allies such as South Korea. According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, South Korea's National Security Council "grappled" with the US in early March over an American request to transfer artillery ammunition to Ukraine.
According to the documents, which quoted a signals intelligence analysis, then-NSC Director Kim Sung-han advised selling the 330,000 rounds of 155 mm weapons to Poland since delivering the weaponry to Ukraine rapidly was the US' ultimate aim.
When asked if the leak came up in their private meetings, Yoon responded, "We are communicating between our two countries."
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden honored Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, during a White House state dinner on Wednesday evening.
