Seoul: South Korea and the United States have been discussing possible joint planning and exercises using US nuclear assets in the face of North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has said.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted Yoon as saying the joint planning and exercises would be aimed at a more effective implementation of the US “extended deterrence.”
The term means the ability of the US military, particularly its nuclear forces, to deter attacks on US allies.
“The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, exercises and training should be jointly conducted by South Korea and the United States,” Yoon said, adding Washington is also “quite positive” about the idea.
Yoon’s remarks come a day after North Korean state media reported that its leader Kim Jong-un called for developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and an “exponential increase” of the country’s nuclear arsenal to counter US-led threats amid flaring tension between the rival Koreas. South Korea US plan
The North’s race to advance its nuclear and missile programmes has renewed debate over South Korea’s own nuclear armaments. Still, Yoon said maintaining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons remained important. South Korea US plan
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