South Korea comes under US nuclear umbrella in bid to ‘restrain adventurism’ by North’s Kim Jong-un
- Under the Washington Declaration, South Korea has dropped the idea of building its own nuclear arsenal in return for protection under the US’ nuclear umbrella
- As the allies ‘close ranks’, an observer says it may be harder to get China and Russia to cooperate on helping to denuclearise North Korea
South Korea has set aside the consideration of pursuing its own nuclear arsenal in return for strengthened US commitment to protect Seoul under its nuclear umbrella against mounting threats by Pyongyang, analysts said.
The statement said the two allies would set up a Nuclear Consultative Group to discuss ways to cope with North Korea’s threats, through which Seoul would be granted a greater voice in planning for the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict with Pyongyang.
Analysts noted South Korea was also hoping to avoid further angering Russia and China, with the joint release mitigating Yoon’s earlier remarks concerning the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Yoon’s summit with US President Joe Biden drew keen international interest, partly as Beijing and Seoul had recently exchanged harsh words over Yoon’s remarks in a Reuters interview last week, whereby he blamed tensions in the Taiwan Strait on “an attempt to change the status quo by force”, although he did not refer to China by name.