SEOUL: Yoon Suk-yeol, the president of South Korea, made the statement while North Korean leader Kim Jong Un referred to the South as its “undoubted enemy” for escalating tensions across the border. Yoon Suk-yeol said that South Korea and the United States are talking about doing joint exercises with US nuclear assets.
After calling for “war preparation” with an “overwhelming” capability following a year marked by the North’s record number of missile tests and the intrusion of North Korean drones into the South last week, Yoon made the remarks in an interview with a newspaper that was published on Monday.
In an interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, Yoon stated, “The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, exercises, and training should be jointly conducted by South Korea and the United States.”
According to the newspaper, Yoon stated that Washington was also “quite positive” about the idea and that the joint planning and exercises would aim for more effective implementation of the United States “extended deterrence.”
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The capability of the United States military, particularly its nuclear forces, to prevent attacks on its allies is referred to as “extended deterrence.”
A spokesperson for the Pentagon said: When asked about Yoon’s remarks, they stated, “We have nothing to announce today,” adding that the alliance remained “rock-solid.” Yoon’s remarks were made public a day after state media in North Korea reported that Kim Jong Un had called for the creation of brand-new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and an “exponential increase” of the country’s nuclear arsenal.
Kim stated that South Korea has now become the North’s “undoubted enemy” at a Workers’ Party meeting last week and announced new military objectives, hinting at another year of intense weapons tests and tension.
