South Korean President Yoon Seok Yul said his country is in talks with the United States on joint planning and joint exercises to counter nuclear threats from North Korea.
In an interview with Joseon Ilbo, Yoon said that the idea that the United States is providing South Korea with a nuclear umbrella or extended deterrence is not enough to calm public opinion in South Korea.
A day after North Korea’s official media announced that leader Kim Jong-un had called for an “accelerated buildup” of his country’s nuclear arsenal and called South Korea an undoubted enemy, the South Korean president pointed out that “in the past, the concept of a nuclear umbrella was that means preparing against the Soviet Union and China before North Korea develops nuclear weapons. And what we call extended containment used to involve the United States also telling us not to worry because they’ll take care of everything, but now it’s hard to convince our people of that.”
“The US government also understands this to some extent,” he added, saying that “in order to better respond to North Korea’s nuclear threat, Seoul hopes to participate in US nuclear operations. For effective extended deterrence, we are negotiating with the US on the concept of a joint planning and exercises.” They have a common nuclear capability and they are very positive about it.”
“Nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning and information sharing, maneuvers and exercises should be carried out jointly by South Korea and the United States, which means that South Korea and the United States are participating jointly, which is a huge progress. compared to the previous extended deterrence concept,” Yun said.
Asked if the discussions could lead to a South Korean version of the nuclear sharing plan, Yoon expressed reservations, saying “The United States doesn’t like the term ‘nuclear sharing plan’.”
“Instead, if we develop this into a concept whereby South Korea and the United States participate not only in planning the operation of nuclear forces, but also in maneuvers, exercises and operations based on common information, this will indeed be an effective measure, as well as sharing” , – he said. Nuclear.
As for whether he plans to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Yoon said there is no doubt about it, “but I think people are a little tired of summits that are just for propaganda. We must start a dialogue on humanitarian issues, open the door for communication and dialogue between south and north, and set the direction by having a certain amount of discussions on the agenda of the two countries.
Source: “Yonhap”