Seoul reaffirmed on Tuesday (January 3rd) that talks were underway with Washington over joint exercises involving US nuclear assets against growing threats from nuclear-armed Pyongyang, hours after US President Joe Biden's denials of the exercise. topic.
The US president said earlier that South Korea was not talking about joint nuclear exercises with Seoul, appearing to contradict comments by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol made this week.
The American “nuclear umbrella”
The two allies are "
discussing intelligence sharing, joint planning and joint implementation plans that arise from the exploitation of US nuclear assets to deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons
", it said. communicated the South Korean presidency.
In an interview with the
Chosun Ilbo
newspaper published on Monday, Yoon Suk-yeol admitted that the American “
nuclear umbrella
” and its “
extended deterrence
” were no longer enough to reassure the South Koreans.
"
Nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but preparation, information sharing, exercises and training must be done jointly by South Korea and the United States
," the president said, adding that Washington welcomed this idea "
rather positively
".
Read alsoSouth Korea wants to acquire nuclear submarines
But several hours after the publication of this interview, Joe Biden answered with a categorical “
no
” when asked if the two parties were considering joint nuclear exercises.
Yoon Suk-yeol's office took note of Joe Biden's response but maintained that the US president "
had no choice but to answer
'
No
'
when asked the question directly without any context
”.
In a statement reported by North Korea's official KCNA news agency on Sunday, leader Kim Jong-un called for an "
exponential
" increase in Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal and the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to combat the
"
hostility
" of Seoul and Washington.
The year 2022 has seen a record number of weapons tests by Pyongyang, including its most advanced ICBM.
