Biden and Yoon warn Pyongyang against any nuclear attack – 04/27/2023 at 11:42

US President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday warned North Korea against any nuclear attack that would prompt a response that would “end” the regime in Pyongyang.

Speaking at a press conference after their meeting at the White House, the two leaders highlighted the strengthening of the American nuclear shield and their “unbreakable alliance”, “forged in time of war and which flourished in peacetime,” Biden said.

“A nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies or partners is unacceptable and will bring about the end of any regime that decides to undertake such an action,” warned the American president.

Mr Yoon for his part believed that peace with his northern neighbor rested on “overwhelming superior force”, rather than “goodwill from the other side”.

Beijing immediately warned Seoul and Washington not to “provoke a confrontation” with Pyongyang.

“All parties should face up to the crux of the (Korean) Peninsula problem and play a constructive role in promoting a peaceful settlement of the issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao said Thursday. Ning.

She called for not “deliberately stoking tensions, provoking confrontation and brandishing threats”, believing that Washington was thus aggravating “tensions on the peninsula”.

– “Washington Declaration” –

The South Korean president is the second foreign leader under President Biden to be honored with a state visit after that of French President Emmanuel Macron last December.

The United States and South Korea agreed in a “Washington Declaration” adopted on Wednesday to significantly strengthen their defense cooperation, including nuclear, through closer “consultations”.

“Our two countries agreed to initiate immediate bilateral consultations in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack and promised to respond promptly and decisively using the full force of our alliance, including the nuclear weapons of the United States,” Yoon said.

It is thus for the United States to reassure their South Korean ally, in the face of North Korea, which this year carried out a record level of ballistic missile fire.

The message is also addressed to China which, deplores Washington, would not use its influence enough to obtain a change of course in Pyongyang.

Beijing, which Washington had taken care to warn, immediately condemned this decision.

“What the United States is doing (…) is causing a confrontation between the camps, undermining the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the strategic interests of other countries,” Mao said.

Beyond that, Washington is also sending the signal of its increasingly assertive commitment to the Asia-Pacific after having recently reinforced defense agreements with Australia, Japan and the Philippines, whose President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is expected on the 1st. May at the White House.

Mr. Biden must also go to the next G7 summit in mid-May in Japan, then to Sydney for a “Quad” summit, which brings together the United States, Australia, Japan and India.

For Frank Aum, of the Institute for Peace in Washington, these announcements could however not have the expected effect.

“History shows that increasing deterrents not only does not deter North Korean military exercises but tends to exacerbate them,” he said.

– Nuclear submarine –

Among the measures decided within the framework of this “Washington Declaration” is the stopover of a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine in South Korea for the first time in four decades.

The deployment of this submarine equipped with ballistic missiles with nuclear heads must however remain “occasional”.

Furthermore, this “Washington Declaration” sets up a mechanism for consultation and information exchange with Seoul on nuclear deterrence.

“The United States hasn’t taken such action, really, since the days of the Cold War with a handful of our closest allies in Europe,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

However, the United States has no intention of stationing nuclear weapons in South Korea and Seoul reaffirms its commitment not to seek to acquire its own arsenal.

The two countries again reaffirm their objective of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Besides the submarines, there will be “a regular cadence of visits from bombers and aircraft carriers”. But there will be no “permanent deployment of these means or nuclear weapons”, assured the official.

President Yoon had arrived to the cheers of a few hundred people gathered outside the White House and received military honors in a well-rehearsed ceremony.

He must also address both houses of Congress before going to Boston on Friday to visit the prestigious universities of MIT and Harvard, then return to Korea on Saturday.