The US nuclear umbrella will again cover South Korea as a deterrent to protect this Asian democracy from threats from its unpredictable neighbor to the North. This is the commitment that Joe Biden made on Wednesday in Washington with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol.
The news, although expected, has fallen with concern in both ponds. In the United States, not everyone is convinced that unconditional defense should be imposed on a country whose enemy has advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US coast.
In Seoul, there is a sector that, after the US withdrew all its nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula in 1991, is not happy to have them back at home, while what other voices have been asking for some time is that the South Korean government develops its own nuclear weapons. A poll last month suggested that 64% of South Koreans supported the latter.
But Washington opposes it, and President Yoon, who has never hidden his intention to redeploy US tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, has given his word to the Biden administration that, in exchange for their protection, they renounce launching themselves. the nuclear race
The highlight of the new agreement signed this week by the two leaders to commemorate the 70 years of alliance of the two countries, dubbed the “Washington Declaration”, is the sending of US nuclear-armed submarines to South Korea.
These submarines already frequented South Korean ports during the Cold War, when the US had nuclear warheads stationed in the Asian country, which signed a treaty with North Korea in 1992 in which both agreed not to manufacture or test nuclear weapons, something that the Kim Jong-un’s regime has not complied.
“It is a deterrence agreement that represents an unprecedented expansion and strengthening of the bilateral strategy,” said Yoon, who was in the White House for a state visit. “The two countries have agreed to immediate bilateral presidential consultations in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack, a promise to respond quickly, overwhelmingly and decisively using the full force of the alliance, including US nuclear weapons.”
Just a month ago, the North Korean dictator called on his army to be ready to carry out “nuclear strikes at any time,” accusing the United States and South Korea of expanding joint military exercises. Soon after, Pyongyang tested a ballistic missile equipped with a simulated nuclear warhead that flew 800 kilometers before hitting a simulated target.
The new defense roadmap that Washington and Seoul will follow from now on also includes more military maneuvers around the Korean Peninsula, which Japan periodically joins. These joint exercises have been quite active in recent months in response to intensified missile tests by Pyongyang, which this month launched its first solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, much more agile and difficult to detect than conventional ICBMs, in liquid fuel, which you have tried on other occasions.
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