Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/SEOUL: South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has said South Korea and the United States have discussed possible joint planning and military exercises using United States nuclear assets in the face of North Korea’s growing atomic deterrence and missile threats in the region.
South Korea President
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted Yoon saying the joint planning and exercises could be aimed at more effective US “extended deterrence implementation.” According to Reuters, the term means the ability of the US forces, particularly its nuclear forces, to deter attacks on US allies.
“The nuclear arms belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, exercises, and training could be jointed conducted by the country and the United States,” Yoon said that adding Washington is also “quite positive” about the idea.
On Sunday, North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast in the rare late-night New Year’s Day missile test, following three missiles launched on Saturday, capping the year marked by the record number of missile tests.
Amid talk of South Korea’s nuclear armaments, Yoon said that maintaining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons remained important.
