Washington Declaration

US-Korea summit: Joe Biden's 'American Pie' won't include stationing nuclear weapons on the peninsula

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Monday, May 1, 2023
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The report highlights China’s increasing foreign policy assertiveness and its growing military power.

Key Points: 
  • The report highlights China’s increasing foreign policy assertiveness and its growing military power.
  • Biden and Yoon agreed on a range of measures to enhance nuclear deterrence on the Korean peninsula.
  • These include the establishment of a Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) to help “plan for nuclear contingencies and cooperate on the Alliance’s approach to nuclear deterrence”.
  • But, while committing to consultation over “any possible nuclear weapons employment on the Korean Peninsula” the US retains the sole right to decide on the use of nuclear weapons under all circumstances.
  • This goes at least some way towards the “joint nuclear exercises” that Yoon called for at the time of their first summit in May 2022.

More visible US presence on peninsula

    • Under the heading: “More visible US strategic asset deployment”, the new agreement commits to “enhancing the deployment of US strategic assets in and around the Korean Peninsula, in particular US nuclear-capable platforms”.
    • The words “more visible” are significant here because normally the location and deployment of sea-based nuclear deterrents is kept strictly secret.
    • In spite of the close relationship between Washington and Seoul, engagement on security issues with North Korea remains an urgent priority.

US-South Korea nuclear weapons deal – what you need to know

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Friday, April 28, 2023
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The United States and South Korea have unveiled an agreement under which leaders in Seoul will be handed an enhanced role in planning any nuclear response to a strike in the region by North Korea.

Key Points: 
  • The United States and South Korea have unveiled an agreement under which leaders in Seoul will be handed an enhanced role in planning any nuclear response to a strike in the region by North Korea.
  • Announced at a state visit to Washington by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on April 26, 2023, the so-called “Washington Declaration” will see U.S. deployments of “strategic assets” around the Korean Peninsula, including an upcoming visit by a nuclear submarine.
  • The last time the U.S. had nuclear weapons in South Korea was 1991 The Conversation asked Sung-Yoon Lee, an expert on U.S.-Korean relations at Tufts University, to explain what the decision to revamp nuclear relations means and why it has come now.

What is in the ‘Washington Declaration’?

    • Well, there’s strong language.
    • Whereas the U.S. has repeatedly “reaffirmed” its commitment in the past to the defense of South Korea, the wording in the Washington Declaration is more robust.
    • It builds on the language contained in the joint statement released during Biden’s visit to Seoul soon after Yoon assumed office in May 2022.
    • Second, the two allies will establish a new nuclear consultative group to “strengthen extended deterrence, discuss nuclear and strategic planning and manage” the growing threat posed by Pyongyang.
    • It is a big step forward.

Why are the US and South Korea announcing this now?

    • North Korea has fired well over 100 missiles since January 2022.
    • Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its many alleged war crimes have only pulled China and North Korea closer into its sphere.

How has South Korea’s position on nuclear options evolved?

    • The first was in the 1970s when the U.S., catching wind of South Korea’s secret nuclear weapons program, threatened to withdraw all U.S. troops from the South unless Seoul completely dismantled the program.
    • And, so, the government abandoned its nuclear ambitions.
    • North Korea’s relentless pursuit of more powerful nuclear and missile capabilities, starting with the resumption of ballistic missiles tests in May 2019 after an 18-month lull, has stiffened views in the South.
    • In it, Yoon “reaffirmed the (Republic of Korea’s) longstanding commitment” to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which would prevent the country from building up its own nuclear weapons stockpile.

How will the declaration affect regional tensions?

    • As such, it is reasonable to assume that Pyongyang will respond with a threatening act or two in the coming days.
    • Using the Washington Declaration as cover, expect North Korea to embark on another brazen act of defiance.
    • And in 2017, North Korea’s former foreign minister Ri Yong Ho suggested that Kim Jong Un was considering testing a hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific.