In the case of a conflict with North Korea, the United States agreed on Wednesday to give South Korea more information about its nuclear programs. This comes amid fears over North Koreas growing stockpile of missiles and explosives.The statement was made following talks between South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden at the White House. The discussions included a wide range of subjects, including North Korea, trade, semiconductor chips, and the ongoing situation in Ukraine. South Korea agreed to continue abstaining from creating its own nuclear weapon as part of the deal.A nuclear deal to deter North KoreaDuring a joint press conference, Yoon and Biden announced steps to strengthen South Koreas security in response to the threat posed by North Korea. Yoon said that if North Korea were to launch a nuclear attack, they had agreed upon rapid one-on-one meetings between the presidents. They also promised to strike swiftly, forcefully, and steadfastly, using all of their alliances resources, including the USs nuclear arsenal.Biden restated the United States offer to North Korea to hold discussions about its nuclear and missile programmes, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has refused.Concerns over the growing nuclear power of North KoreaThere are questions over whether the United States will actually use its nuclear weapons to protect South Korea as part of its “extended deterrence” policy in light of North Koreas rapidly expanding arsenal, which currently includes long-range ballistic missiles capable of striking American cities. Public opinion surveys in South Korea have revealed that the majority of people support the development of the nations own nuclear arsenal, a move that the United States rejects.In order to alleviate these worries, the US and South Korea came up with the “Washington Declaration”, in which the US accepted to give South Korea access to detailed data as well as permit to take part in contingency planning for any nuclear occurrences in the region through a US-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group. This action intends to strengthen local deterrent and response capacities.US officials claim Washington will send a ballistic-missile submarine to South Korea as a show of force, the first such deployment since the 1980s. But President Biden reaffirmed that no nuclear weapons would be stationed on South Korean soil.The recently agreed-upon measures by the US and South Korea may not be sufficient for compelling North Korea to give up its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction or end the discussion about South Koreas nuclear future there, according to the Washington-based monitoring group 38 North. The measure, according to the Wilson Centre think tank, is primarily symbolic and intended to dissuade South Korea from getting nuclear weapons.However, according to Duyeon Kim, an analyst at the Centre for a New American Security, the declaration represents a significant victory for the alliance in general and South Korea in particular. One of the most notable achievements was that the two countries are simulating scenarios that involve a US nuclear response, which was previously considered classified.
