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President Joe Biden and Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday will sign an agreement that includes a plan to have a US nuclear-armed submarine dock in South Korea for the first time in more than 40 years, showing support for Seoul amid concerns over the nuclear threat. by North Korea, according to a senior Biden administration official.
The planned port visit is a key element of the so-called “Washington Declaration,” which aims to prevent North Korea from attacking its neighbors. The announcement came as Biden hosted Yoon for a state visit amid growing concern for both leaders over North Korea’s increased ballistic missile tests in recent months.
Three senior Biden administration officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity before the official announcement, said Biden and his aide Yoon had been working on the details of the plan for months and agreed that it was “at times” and “a very clear demonstration of the strength” of The necessary US deterrence capabilities are an important aspect of the agreement.
The agreement seeks to allay South Korea’s fears of the North’s aggressive nuclear weapons program and to prevent the country from restarting its own nuclear program, which it gave up nearly 50 years ago when it signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The U.S. and South Korea will also coordinate more deeply on a nuclear response strategy if the North attacks the South — but operational control of the weapons will remain under U.S. control, and no nuclear weapons will be deployed off South Korean shores.
The agreement also called for the US and South Korean militaries to strengthen joint exercises and better integrate South Korean military assets into joint strategic deterrence efforts. As part of the declaration, South Korea will reaffirm its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, an agreement signed by several major nuclear and non-nuclear powers that pledges to work together to prevent the spread of nuclear technology, the official said.
Cold War Practice
As a presidential candidate last year, Yoon said he would increase the deployment of US bombers, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines to South Korea as he sought a stronger response to the North’s threat than his predecessor Moon Jae-in.
At the height of the Cold War in the late 1970s, US nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines made frequent port visits to South Korea, sometimes two to three visits a month, according to the Federation of American Scientists. It was a time when the US had hundreds of nuclear warheads located in South Korea.
But in 1991, the United States withdrew all nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula, and the following year Seoul and Pyongyang signed a joint declaration promising not to “test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, distribute or use nuclear weapons.” ” But as the North has repeatedly violated the joint declaration over the years, there has been growing support in South Korea for the United States to return nuclear weapons to the country.
US administration officials said they envisioned that ballistic missile submarine visits would be followed by the US military routinely deploying assets such as bombers or aircraft carriers to South Korea.
In the past year, North Korea has continued to expand its nuclear arsenal, while China and Russia have repeatedly blocked US-led efforts to strengthen sanctions on the North over its banned missile tests.
The tests carried out by North Korea included the test flight of a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time this month. The new test is seen as a possible breakthrough in the North’s efforts to acquire more powerful and harder-to-detect weapons aimed at the continental United States.
Ukraine war is expected to be discussed
North Korea’s growing nuclear threat, as well as concerns about China’s military and economic assertiveness in the region, have pushed the Biden administration to expand its Asian alliance. Next week, Biden will host Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for Oval Office discussions.
Besides nuclear deterrence, Biden and Yoon, and their aides, will also discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Biden administration praised South Korea for sending about $230 million in US humanitarian aid to Kyiv, but Biden would welcome Seoul taking a bigger role in helping Ukrainians oust Russia.
Yoon’s visit comes just weeks after the leak of a series of classified documents that have complicated relations with allies, including South Korea. Papers seen by The Associated Press show that South Korea’s National Security Council “wrestled” with the US in early March over an American request to supply artillery ammunition to Ukraine.
In addition to Wednesday’s talks, Biden and Yoon are scheduled to host a joint news conference. In the evening, Biden and his wife Jill Biden will honor Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, for a state dinner at the White House.
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