According to Biden officials, a US nuclear submarine will visit South Korea, where leaders will proclaim a strengthened nuclear shield for the Asian country. The action comes amid the North’s aggressive nuclear posturing.
Senior US officials indicated on Wednesday that a US nuclear missile submarine will soon visit South Korea for the first time since the early 1980s.
The statement comes as US President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol prepare to divulge specifics of increased military cooperation in response to North Korea’s missile tests and expanding nuclear arsenal.
An official said the measures to be announced at the White House were unprecedented in recent years and were being taken in response to the North Korean threat.
“The United States has not taken these steps, really, since the height of the Cold War with our very closest handful of allies in Europe. And we are seeking to ensure that by undertaking these new procedures, these new steps, that our commitment to extended deterrence is unquestionable,” the senior official said.
Biden and Yoon will submit the Washington Declaration, which will describe the details of greater US military security for South Korea.
Washington intends to boost information cooperation with Seoul, among other things.
Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, emphasised that no US nuclear weapons would be sent to South Korea, and that Seoul would reaffirm its promise not to build its own nuclear arsenal.
During the Cold War, the United States did station nuclear weapons in allied European countries.
