Washington and Seoul are planning an “effectively coordinated” response if North Korea uses nuclear weapons, the White House warned Tuesday.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden have “tasked the team to plan an effective coordinated response to several scenarios, including the use of nuclear weapons by North Korea,” a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House said. .
The NSC spoke out after confusion emerged in media reports about the allies’ response to the nuclear saber rattling from Pyongyang.
On Monday, Biden said “no” when asked if joint nuclear exercises were a possibility, seemingly contradicting earlier comments from Yoon.
An NSC spokesman clarified that joint exercises are not an option because South Korea does not have nuclear weapons of its own.
However, “the United States is committed to our alliance … and to providing comprehensive deterrence through US defense capabilities,” the spokesman said.
In Seoul, Yoon’s office said in a statement that the allies are “in discussions about information sharing, joint planning and joint implementation plans with regard to the operation of US nuclear assets in response to North Korea’s nuclear weapons.”
‘table’ planning
Some interpreted Yoon’s earlier comments in a newspaper interview as indicating a more complex joint nuclear exercise.
In an interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper published Monday, Yoon said the United States’ “nuclear umbrella” and “more comprehensive deterrence” were not enough to reassure South Koreans.
“Nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, training and exercises should be done jointly by South Korea and the United States,” Yoon said, adding that the US was “quite positive” about the idea.
However, a senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no confusion over allied coordination.
Because “North Korea’s actions and statements have raised concerns,” the United States and South Korea “are working together to strengthen longer-term deterrence, including ultimately through table-top exercises that will explore our joint response to various scenarios, including the use of nuclear weapons.” “said the official.
“This is consistent with President Yoon’s comments that the United States and the ROK (South Korea) will expand planning, information sharing, training, and exercises,” the official said.
The Kim regime will not ‘survive’
Tensions are high after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an “exponential” increase in his country’s nuclear arsenal and new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to counter what he called US-South Korean hostility.
By 2022, the North was conducting sanctions-defying weapons tests almost every month, including firing its most advanced ICBMs.
Under the hawkish Yoon, South Korea has ramped up joint military exercises with the United States, which had been scaled back during the pandemic or paused for poor diplomacy with the North under his predecessor.
The Pentagon’s official position in response to North Korea’s nuclear attack is firm.
“Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its Allies and partners is unacceptable and will result in the death of the regime. There is no scenario in which the Kim regime can use nuclear weapons and survive,” the US defense department said.