U.S. President Joe Biden denied Monday that he is currently negotiating joint nuclear exercises with South Korea after his South Korean counterpart made such an announcement.
Biden, asked by a reporter at the White House whether he is «discussing right now joint nuclear exercises with South Korea,» replied «no,» without elaborating.
Subsequently, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that Washington is holding talks with South Korea on how to dissuade North Korean leader Kim Yong Un from using nuclear weapons, according to Bloomberg.
Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, asked their teams after a meeting in Cambodia last year to plan an effective coordinated response to various scenarios, including Pyongyang’s nuclear use, the spokesman said.
He added that Seoul and Washington are not discussing joint nuclear exercises because South Korea is not a nuclear weapons state.
Yoon announced Monday morning that his government is in talks with Washington to negotiate joint nuclear planning in response to North Korea’s threats.
«South Korea and the United States are discussing ways to operate U.S. nuclear forces under the concept of ‘joint planning’ (…) Nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but information sharing, planning and training should be conducted jointly,» Yoon said in an interview with the ‘Chosun Ilbo’ newspaper.
Seoul noted that the idea is for the Biden Administration to provide a «nuclear umbrella or extended deterrence» to the country, which should not «worry,» even though «it is difficult to convince the public in this regard.»
These statements were made public one day after Kim Jong Un announced «the need for a massive production of tactical nuclear weapons», while labeling his southern neighbor as the «undoubted enemy», as reported by the KCNA news agency.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
