Seoul and Washington are examining joint preparation and activities including US atomic resources for counter developing dangers from the North, South Korea’s official office said Tuesday, after US President Joe Biden said there would be no such joint drills.
The assertion was delivered after Biden said the US was not talking about joint atomic activities with South Korea, apparently going against remarks by Seoul’s Leader Yoon Suk-yeol recently.
According to a statement released by Yoon’s office, the two security allies are “in talks over information-sharing, joint planning, and the joint implementation plans that follow with regard to the operation of US nuclear assets to respond to North Korea’s nuclear weapons.”
In a meeting with the Chosun Ilbo paper distributed Monday, Yoon said the US’s current “atomic umbrella” and “broadened prevention” were as of now insufficient to console South Koreans.
Yoon stated, “The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but the planning, sharing of information, exercises, and training must be done jointly by South Korea and the United States,” noting that the United States was “quite positive” about the concept.
When asked if the two sides were considering joint nuclear exercises, Biden responded with an emphatic “no” just hours after that interview was published.
Although the US president had been “left with no options but to answer ‘No’ when directly asked… without any context,” Yoon’s office acknowledged Biden’s response.
A spokesperson for the South Korean president’s office, Kim Eun-hye, stated, “Joint nuclear exercise is a term only used by nuclear powers.”
Kim Jong Un, the leader of the North, called for an “exponential” increase in his country’s nuclear arsenal and new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to combat what it called hostility between the US and South Korea. This led to the conflict.
Nearly every month in 2022, the North tested weapons that violated sanctions, including firing its most advanced ICBM yet.
Joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States have increased under the hawkish Yoon, which Yoon’s predecessor had slashed during the pandemic or halted for a failed attempt at diplomacy with the North.
