WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – The United States and South Korea want to increase their deterrence against a nuclear threat from North Korea. US President Joe Biden received his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol for a state visit to the White House in Washington on Wednesday – with a lot of formal pomp. The two agreed to strengthen military cooperation between the two countries. According to the US government, this includes more visible deployment of strategic American equipment. Among other things, an American nuclear submarine should dock in South Korea for the first time since the 1980s. Military training and simulations are also to be intensified.
North Korea is subject to tough international sanctions because of its nuclear weapons and missile program. The conflict with Pyongyang has recently become much more explosive. After an unprecedented series of missile launches last year, North Korea has again tested nuclear-capable missiles several times this year. The United States and South Korea have resumed their full-scale joint military exercises – and now want to do even more.
At a joint press conference with Yoon on Wednesday, Biden said it was about an expanded deterrent against the increasing nuclear threat from North Korea and the escalating behavior of Pyongyang. The US President warned that a nuclear attack against the US or its partners would “mean the end of any regime that would carry out such an action”. Yoon also warned the neighboring country against such a move, saying peace on the Korean peninsula will not come by itself.
The new cooperation between Washington and Seoul is about “occasional, very clear demonstrations of strength” against Pyongyang, but not about the permanent stationing of new funds, said a senior US official. There are also no plans to station nuclear weapons in South Korea again.
However, South Korea is expected to gain more insight into the US government’s strategic planning for threats, including nuclear ones. Senior US officials said this was modeled on what the US was doing with close European partners at the height of the Cold War. in similar times of external threats. At the same time, South Korea acknowledges its status as a non-nuclear power.
When asked about China’s possible anger from the Americans’ more forceful stance in the region, a US official said the reasons for the moves were made very clear. Preventing further destabilizing actions by North Korea in the region is also in China’s interests. “It is a prudent, cautious strategic response to ongoing provocations that, frankly, have been condoned or certainly not contained by China.” The US government is disappointed that Beijing has not been willing to use its influence to influence North Korea.
Along with Japan, South Korea is one of the most important US allies in Asia. After French President Emmanuel Macron, Yoon is only the second foreign guest to be invited to a formal state visit during Biden’s tenure. Unlike regular work visits, such trips are accompanied by particular formal pomp. A festive state banquet was planned for the evening in honor of Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee.
Shortly before Yoon’s visit, reports of alleged US wiretapping against the South Koreans had caused irritation. US media reported some of the US classified documents that have surfaced online show the extent to which the US has been eavesdropping on key allies, including South Korea. Accordingly, the documents dealt with talks in the presidential office in Seoul on the question of whether South Korea should also support Ukraine with weapons for the war against Russia. Yoon’s office had described the wiretapping suspicions as “absurd and false”.
During his visit to Washington, Yoon briefly commented on this. “We intend to continue to exchange views on this matter,” he said at the press conference with Biden, according to the translation. “There are always various complex variables at play. We have to wait for the investigation results from the United States,” Yoon said.
US secret documents have been circulating on the Internet for weeks. They also contain information on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. A young US serviceman is suspected of having published the documents in a closed chat room. From there they are said to have spread further until authorities and the media became aware of it./jac/DP/he