Presidential Office "Discussing and Preparing to Drastically Strengthen Extended Deterrence by Considering All Possibilities"

Regarding the Review of Nuclear Sharing, "Difficult to Confirm Specific Details"

On the 16th, one day before President Yoon Seok-yeol's 100th day in office, the Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul is shown. President Yoon, emphasizing the elimination of authoritarianism, moved the stage of state affairs from the former Blue House to Yongsan. With the president's office relocated to Yongsan, the Blue House has been fully opened to the public. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 13th, the Presidential Office stated regarding measures to respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile advancement, "We are consulting, discussing, and considering all means and measures to drastically strengthen extended deterrence in preparation for all possibilities."

A Presidential Office official said this during a meeting with reporters in the afternoon when asked about the consideration of 'practical nuclear sharing,' adding, "It is difficult to confirm specific details."

When asked, "Does the Presidential Office consider the permanent deployment of nuclear-armed aircraft carriers or submarines as nuclear sharing?" the official replied, "Since this is a specific measure and a hypothetical question, we will not provide an answer."

In response to a follow-up question, "Is the permanent deployment of nuclear-armed aircraft carriers or nuclear submarines being considered as one of the specific measures?" the official clarified, "It does not mean that the Presidential Office is reviewing it as a specific measure, but rather that we cannot say 'yes' or 'no' regarding the mentioned specific content," adding, "We cannot answer 'nuclear sharing or not' based on assumptions."

The official also avoided answering the question, "Are working-level discussions with the United States underway?" by saying, "I will refer to what I mentioned earlier."

Earlier, President Yoon Suk-yeol, in a door-stepping (brief Q&A on the way to work) at the Presidential Office, regarding reports that a request for nuclear sharing was made to the United States, said, "Various opinions related to extended deterrence are emerging domestically and in the U.S. political circles, and we are carefully listening and thoroughly examining various possibilities."

Regarding some calls for redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons domestically, he said, "I mentioned it yesterday or the day before. You can refer to that." On the 11th, during a door-stepping, President Yoon said about the possibility of redeploying tactical nuclear weapons, "As president, this is not a matter on which I can publicly express a position, and we are carefully listening to and considering various opinions from both South Korea and U.S. political circles."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.