Biden denies US in talks on nuclear exercises with South Korea

According to claims made by his South Korean counterpart, President Yoon Suk-yeol, who claimed that Washington and Seoul were in discussions about drills using US nuclear assets, US President Joe Biden has stated that the US and South Korea are not currently contemplating joint nuclear exercises.

In a newspaper interview, the president of South Korea stated that negotiations between Seoul and Washington over cooperative planning and drills involving US nuclear assets to confront North Korea’s nuclear threats were ongoing.

Biden denied that he was currently contemplating joint nuclear exercises with South Korea when asked by reporters at the White House on Monday.

In an interview that was published in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper on Monday, President Yoon made remarks that come at a time of rising tension with North Korea, which test-fired an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles in 2022 and has vowed to vehemently oppose what it perceives as military preparations by the US and South Korea for a potential invasion.

Yoon has adopted a more assertive approach in response to North Korea’s sabre rattling and has called for “war preparedness” with “overwhelming” capacity.

The ability of the US military, notably its nuclear assets, to deter assaults on US allies is referred to as “extended deterrence,” and according to Yoon, cooperative planning and drills will be targeted at improving its execution.

Yoon told the newspaper that Seoul wants to participate in the operation of US nuclear forces in order to better counter North Korea’s nuclear threats.

Yoon said, adding that Washington is also “very pleased” about the notion, “The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, exercises, and training should be jointly done by South Korea and the United States.”

According to South Korea’s Yonhap press agency, Yoon’s senior press secretary Kim Eun-hye stated on Tuesday that Biden had to refuse when asked such a direct question on such a delicate subject.

President Biden “clearly had to respond ‘No’ when the Reuters reporter asked him point blank if joint nuclear drills were being discussed,” Kim stated in a statement, according to Yonhap.

In order to counter North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, South Korea and the US are in discussions about information-sharing, collaborative planning, and the implementation plans that will follow, according to the spokeswoman.