The United States is not discussing joint nuclear exercises with South Korea, US President Joe Biden said on Monday, contradicting his South Korean counterpart’s comments as tensions with North Korea escalate.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Seoul and Washington were discussing possible joint exercises using US nuclear assets, while North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the South his “undisputed enemy”.
“No,” Biden said when asked by reporters at the White House if he was discussing joint nuclear exercises with South Korea right now.
The US president had just returned from vacation in the US Virgin Islands, where he was accompanied by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
Yoon’s comments, in an interview published on Monday, followed his call for “preparation for war” in “overwhelming” capacity, following a year of record North Korean missile tests and North Korean drone intrusion into the south last week.
“Nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, exercises and training must be conducted jointly by South Korea and the United States,” Yoon said in an interview with Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
According to the paper, Yoon said joint planning and exercises would aim at more effective implementation of US “extended deterrence” and that Washington was also “very positive” about the idea.
The term “extended deterrence” implies the ability of the US military, particularly its nuclear forces, to prevent attacks on US allies.
The United States has long had a long-standing deterrent dialogue with Japan on nuclear issues and began the same dialogue with South Korea in 2016, said Thomas Countryman, former acting under secretary of state for arms control, who chaired the first meeting of the dialogue.
“It’s not immediately clear what is new in President Yoon’s statement and what is a restatement of things that are already happening,” Countryman said in a telephone interview on Monday.
Now chairman of the Arms Control Association board, Countryman said Yoon’s comments, directed at the South Korean people, appeared to be a response to what Countryman called North Korean provocations and rhetoric.
“I see this as an effort by President Yoon and the Biden administration to reassure the government and people of South Korea that the US commitment remains solid.”
Yoon’s remarks came a day after North Korean state media reported that its leader, Kim, had called for the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and an “exponential increase” in the country’s nuclear arsenal.
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Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
