South Korea and US discuss strategy on North Korean nuclear threat

Senior defense officials from South Korea and the United States met in Seoul on Monday to work on new guidelines to coordinate their response to any nuclear threat from North Korea, officials said.

The guidelines established the principles and procedures for maintaining and enhancing a “credible and effective” nuclear deterrence policy and posture, according to a joint statement from the allies’ third closed-door talks on the issue.

The Nuclear Advisory Group meeting came amid signs that North Korea is moving to develop its nuclear weapons and delivery systems.

Some South Korean politicians, including high-ranking members of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s party, have called for Seoul to develop its own nuclear weapons rather than relying solely on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, a move Washington opposes.

Monday’s meeting continued last year’s summit, when the United States promised to give South Korea more information about its nuclear planning for any conflict with the North.

Vipin Narang, acting U.S. assistant secretary of defense for space policy, who co-chaired these talks, said the guidelines establish an architecture for how allies integrate conventional and nuclear capabilities that will ultimately be provided to each other’s leadership. country in a crisis.

“The guidelines cover the principles and procedures for consultations, especially in a North Korean nuclear crisis, and inform the alliance’s operational concepts and exercises,” Narang said at a news conference.

Cho Chang-rae, South Korea’s vice defense minister for policy, said high-level officials from the two countries will hold a simulation exercise before the regular summer drills, focusing on the possibility of North Korea using a weapon nuclear.

The two Koreas are still technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.