The first session of a consultative group between the US and South Korea over nuclear deterrence measures has targeted North Korea’s nuclear program and discussed the management of American nuclear weapons in the region.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol described Tuesday's inaugural Nuclear Consultative Group meeting in Seoul as a significant event conducted under the pretext of "responding to the escalating North Korean nuclear and missile threats". Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of South Korea's National Security Office, and Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, jointly presided over the meeting.
Following this event, the US and South Korea conducted their largest "Combined Annihilation Firepower Drills," with the deployment of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and nuclear-capable bombers. In June, nuclear-powered submarine the USS Michigan docked in South Korea.
North Korea's state media, the Korean Central News Agency, criticized US actions in the Asia-Pacific.
"It is just aimed to dodge the responsibility for the worst-ever nuclear-related crimes it has committed by systematically destroying and violating the nuclear non-proliferation system, and in particular, pushing the situation of the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war," KCNA said.
The group accorded greater decision-making power to South Korea over how the US nuclear canopy would be deployed, which was accompanied by the guarantee that it would be deployed to retaliate against a potential North Korean strike. However, Washington has the final say on the use of its nuclear assets.
The group has been labeled a "nuclear war tool” by North Korea, with the country demanding the discontinuation of submarine deployments and firmly declining offers from Washington and Seoul to resume talks on nuclear disarmament, which have remained at a standstill for a long time.
“The US should know that its bolstered extended deterrence system and excessively extended military alliance system, a threatening entity, will only make the DPRK go further away from the negotiating table desired by it,” according to Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader.
China has opposed the idea of deploying US submarines near the Korean Peninsula, stating that such a move undermines the integrity of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.
Pyongyang has expressed strong displeasure over the Yoon-Biden summit, stating that it has strengthened its resolve to pursue its "nuclear war deterrent."