SEOUL: South Korea reiterated on Tuesday that Seoul and Washington are continuing their partnership in managing US nuclear assets in the face of growing nuclear threats from North Korea, after President Joe Biden denied that the allies were discussing joint nuclear drills. talking about.

The alleged rift came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to mass-produce battlefield nuclear weapons that would target South Korea and develop an improved intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the US mainland.

According to some experts, Kim will eventually want to use his expanding arsenal of weapons to extract concessions from others, such as lifting sanctions.

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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a newspaper interview that the US had responded favorably to the idea of the two countries involving US nuclear assets for joint planning and training.

Later, at the White House, a reporter asked whether the two countries had discussed holding joint nuclear drills. Biden replied, "No."

In response to North Korea's nuclear threats, Seoul and Washington "discussed an intelligence-sharing, a joint plan, and subsequent joint execution plans on the management of US nuclear assets," according to a statement by Yoon's top press secretary Kim Eun-hee. are doing." ,

According to Kim, a reporter questioned Biden about the nuclear drills without context, and Biden most likely answered "no".

Yoon said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo that even though American nuclear weapons are owned by the United States, planning, intelligence-sharing, and exercises involving them should be done in cooperation with South Korea. With current levels of US security commitment, he claimed he finds it challenging to assure his people of security guarantees.

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South Korea is protected by a US "nuclear umbrella", which ensures a devastating US response in the event of an attack on an ally, despite the fact that South Korea has no nuclear weapons.

However, some experts doubt the efficacy of such a security commitment, claiming that the decision to use nuclear weapons by the United States rests with the US President.

Yoon's office gave few details about his government's talks with the US. At a time of heightened tensions with North Korea, some observers claim that South Korea is attempting to obtain a greater role in US decision-making regarding the deployment of its nuclear assets.

Report South Korea-U.S. The discussion, according to Kim Taewoo, a former leader of Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification, "benchmarked a NATO-style nuclear-sharing arrangement" that allows warplanes of NATO member states to carry US nuclear weapons.

Because a possible nuclear exercise between the two nations would involve South Korean Air Force aircraft defending US aircraft simulating nuclear strikes during the joint exercise, he claimed the discussions still appear to fall short of a NATO agreement.

North Korea will react delicately to this. (South Korea and the US) are talking about it to encourage North Korea to respond in a sensitive manner. Noting that North Korea may be afraid of this, Kim Taewoo said.

He stressed that the United States and South Korea are probably talking about it through informal channels. As a result, he said, South Korea may claim it is discussing the matter with the United States while Washington may insist otherwise.

North Korea conducted a record number of weapons tests last year, launching a variety of ballistic missiles capable of reaching the US mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan. North Korea also passed a new law in September authorizing the use of its bombs in a preventive manner.

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The defense chiefs of the United States and South Korea issued a joint statement after their annual meeting in November in which they called on South Korea to provide expanded deterrence, deploy US strategic assets in a timely and coordinated manner as needed, and create new frameworks confirmed his commitment. Steps to strengthen resistance against North Korean threats. The declaration included their agreement to strengthen the exchange of information and coordinated planning and execution within the alliance.

Kim Jong Un recently ordered an "exponential" expansion of his country's nuclear arsenal, mass production of tactical nuclear weapons to strike South Korea, a new ICBM with "quick nuclear retaliatory strike" capability Evolution—the weapon he needs to attack the United States—and other actions.