Yoon and Biden Adopt Washington Declaration on Extended Deterrence Including 'Joint Execution'

Establishment of 'Core Consultative Group' for Information Sharing and Joint Execution
US: "Deploy Strategic Nuclear Submarines More Frequently in the Korean Peninsula"

During his state visit to the United States, President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden have agreed to adopt and announce the "Washington Declaration," which strengthens extended deterrence in response to North Korea's nuclear threat. This declaration will also include the establishment of a new consultative body called the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) to ensure that South Korea's opinions are more reflected in the enhancement of extended deterrence, information sharing, joint planning, and execution.

The Presidential Office announced on the 26th (local time) that the adoption of the "Washington Declaration" between the two leaders is expected, stating, "Through this, the mechanism encompassing information sharing, joint planning, and joint execution of extended deterrence is expected to operate more organically."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Presidential Office's announcement aligns with the U.S. administration's position that the Washington Declaration, including the establishment of the Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group, will be adopted. Earlier, a senior Biden administration official stated in a briefing that the two leaders would announce the "Washington Declaration," which includes measures to strengthen extended deterrence. The official also mentioned, "We will announce the establishment of the Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group, a regular bilateral consultative body focused on nuclear and strategic planning issues."

The Washington Declaration will be prepared separately from the joint statement covering all agendas of the Korea-U.S. summit. According to the U.S. side's announcement, a notable part is the plan to enhance the operational capability of extended deterrence by more frequently deploying strategic assets capable of launching nuclear weapons, such as strategic nuclear submarines (SSBNs), on the Korean Peninsula to respond to the North Korean nuclear threat. The U.S. stated, "We will take measures to further visualize the deterrence of the Korea-U.S. alliance against North Korea's nuclear threat through the regular deployment of strategic assets, including visits by U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarines to South Korea, which has not occurred even once since the early 1980s."

Earlier, Kim Eun-hye, the Presidential Office's chief spokesperson, also stated during a briefing on the first day of President Yoon's state visit to the U.S. (the 24th), "President Yoon and President Biden plan to announce a separate document containing extended deterrence measures as an outcome of this Korea-U.S. summit," adding, "It is expected to be a more advanced extended deterrence plan."

However, the U.S. side made it clear that "the decision to use nuclear weapons is entirely the authority of the U.S. president," emphasizing that South Korea will not be involved in the decision to use U.S. nuclear weapons. South Korea is also expected to reaffirm its non-proliferation commitment by declaring that it will not pursue its own nuclear armament in accordance with the guidelines of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

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