South Korean President Yoon asks US for greater role in managing nuclear weapons

SEOUL - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said his government is in talks with the United States on taking a more active role in managing nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula, which would mark a significant shift in a decades-old policy among American allies to deter North Korea.

“While the nuclear weapons belong to the US, intel sharing, planning and training should be done jointly,” Mr Yoon told South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper in an interview published on Monday.

“The US’ stance is quite positive,” he added, telling the newspaper that the policy should be conducted under the concept of “joint planning and joint exercise”. South Korea’s presidential office confirmed the remarks.

Mr Yoon said the strategy of “nuclear umbrella” or “extended deterrence” is no longer reassuring for the public now that North Korea has developed nuclear weapons and a range of missiles to deliver them.

When asked about Mr Yoon’s comments, a Pentagon spokesman said: “We have nothing to announce today.”

The spokesman added that the alliance remains “rock solid”.

Since taking power in May 2022, Mr Yoon has sought to put South Korea on a path of overwhelming military strength against the North, which has launched scores of missiles in defiance of United Nations resolutions and is preparing for another nuclear test.

Last September, South Korea and the US agreed to cooperate more closely in their first formal talks on extended deterrence in about four years. The two sides agreed to “explore avenues to enhance alliance strategic readiness through improved information sharing, training and exercises, as they relate to nuclear and non-nuclear threats, including better use of table-top exercises”, according to a US statement at the time. 

Mr Yoon’s remarks come a day after North Korean state media reported that its leader Kim Jong Un called for developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles and pledged to

increase his nuclear arsenal to counter US-led threats

to stifle US and South Korean hostile acts following a nearly week-long party meeting.

Mr Kim left almost no opening for a return to long-stalled disarmament talks, calling instead for an “exponential increase” of his nuclear arsenal. 

Analysts say the tensions could worsen.

“This year could be a year of crisis with military tension on the Korean peninsula going beyond what it was like in 2017,” said Dr Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, referring to the days of the “fire and fury” under the Trump administration.

“North Korea’s hardline stance... and aggressive weapons development when met with South Korea-US joint exercises and proportional response could raise the tension in a flash, and we cannot rule out what’s similar to a regional conflict when the two sides have a misunderstanding of the situation,” Dr Hong told Reuters.

On Sunday, North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast, in a rare late-night, New Year’s Day weapons test, following

three ballistic missiles launched on Saturday,

capping a year marked by a record number of missile tests.

Amid talk of South Korea’s own nuclear armaments, Mr Yoon said maintaining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons remained important.

Last week, Mr Kim’s regime sent five drones across the border into South Korea, temporarily disrupting flights at major airports.

With little threat of new sanctions and plans already afoot to further develop weapons including drones, submarines and missiles, Mr Kim has been honing his ability to deliver a credible nuclear strike against the US and its allies, such as South Korea and Japan.

The North Korea leader has raised tension to levels not seen in years by firing off more than 70 ballistic missiles in 2022, lowering his guard rails for the use of nuclear weapons and saying he sees no need to going back to the bargaining table for talks on winding back his nuclear arsenal in return for relief from sanctions that have largely cut the nation off from the world economy. BLOOMBERG