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US President Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul: the "full range" of military capabilities
Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/POOL/EPA
The US and South Korea plan to expand their joint military maneuvers.
This is intended to counteract the threat posed by North Korea.
This was announced by US President Joe Biden and South Korea's new head of state Yoon Suk-yeol in a joint statement after a meeting in Seoul.
The scope and scope of the maneuvers are to be expanded, and more is to be invested in military training and further education.
For neighboring North Korea and its head of state, dictator Kim Jong Un, the statement is likely to be an affront.
Un rejects the military maneuvers as a warlike provocation.
The US and South Korean governments see Pyongyang's missile and nuclear weapons program as a threat.
The US promises full support
Biden has assured Yoon that the US remains committed to using the "full range" of its military capabilities to defend South Korea, including nuclear weapons, conventional weapons and missile defense systems, if necessary, the statement said.
This strategy of extended deterrence is intended to discourage potential adversaries from attacking.
A good 28,000 US soldiers are stationed in South Korea.
Biden is on a three-day state visit to South Korea as part of his first trip to Asia as President.
Biden sees the alliance with South Korea as a "linchpin for peace, stability and prosperity" in the region.
The tense security situation on the Korean peninsula overshadows the US President's visit.
North Korea has never tested so many missiles in such a short time as this year, including those capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
At the end of April, Kim Jong Un announced that he would "strengthen and develop the country's nuclear capabilities as soon as possible."
South Korea and the United States fear that North Korea could conduct a new missile or even nuclear weapons test around Biden's visit.
jlk/dpa