Biden says U.S. not discussing nuclear exercises with South Korea

Reuters

Soo-Hyang Choi and Trevor Hunnicutt

Printed Jan 02, 2023 • 3 minute learn

SEOUL/WASHINGTON — America just isn’t discussing joint nuclear workout routines with South Korea, President Joe Biden mentioned on Monday, contradicting remarks by his South Korean counterpart as tensions flare with North Korea.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol had mentioned that Seoul and Washington are discussing potential joint workout routines utilizing U.S. nuclear property, whereas North Korean chief Kim Jong Un branded the South its “undoubted enemy.”

“No,” Biden mentioned when requested by reporters on the White Home if he was presently discussing joint nuclear workout routines with South Korea. He had simply returned from a trip within the U.S. Virgin Islands, the place he was accompanied by his nationwide safety adviser, Jake Sullivan.

Yoon’s feedback, in a newspaper interview revealed on Monday, adopted his name for “conflict preparation” with an “overwhelming” functionality, after a 12 months of a document variety of North Korean missile assessments and the intrusion of North Korean drones into the South final week.

“The nuclear weapons belong to the US, however planning, data sharing, workout routines and coaching needs to be collectively performed by South Korea and the US,” Yoon mentioned within the interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

The newspaper quoted Yoon as saying the joint planning and workout routines can be geared toward a more practical implementation of the U.S. “prolonged deterrence” and that Washington was additionally “fairly constructive” concerning the thought.

The time period “prolonged deterrence” means the flexibility of the U.S. army, significantly its nuclear forces, to discourage assaults on American allies.

America has lengthy had an prolonged deterrence dialog with Japan to speak about nuclear points and initiated the identical dialog with South Korea in 2016, mentioned Thomas Countryman, the previous performing undersecretary of state for arms management, who chaired the dialog’s first assembly.

“It’s not instantly clear what in President Yoon’s assertion is new and what’s a rephrasing of issues which might be already occurring,” Countryman mentioned on Monday in a telephone interview.

Now board chairman of the Arms Management Affiliation, Countryman mentioned Yoon’s feedback, directed on the South Korean individuals, gave the impression to be in response to what Countryman known as North Korea’s provocations and rhetoric.

“I do see this as an effort by each President Yoon and the Biden administration to reassure the federal government and the individuals of South Korea, that the U.S. dedication stays stable.”

Yoon’s remarks had been revealed a day after North Korean state media reported that its chief Kim had known as for growing new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and an “exponential improve” of the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

At a gathering of the ruling Employees’ Social gathering final week, Kim mentioned South Korea had change into the North’s “undoubted enemy” and rolled out new army targets, hinting at one other 12 months of intensive weapons assessments and stress.

Inter-Korean ties have lengthy been testy however have been much more frayed since Yoon took workplace in Might, promising a more durable stance on the North.

On Sunday, North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast, in a uncommon late-night, New Yr’s Day weapons take a look at, following three ballistic missiles launched on Saturday.

The North’s official KCNA information company mentioned the projectiles had been fired from its super-large a number of rocket launcher system, which Kim mentioned “has South Korea as an entire throughout the vary of strike and is able to carrying tactical nuclear warheads.” (Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi in Seoul and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Further reporting by Doina Chiacu and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Modifying by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Howard Goller and Jonathan Oatis)