[Editorial] Crucial occasion

President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden will release a special statement on strengthened extended deterrence to North Korea’s nuclear threat, South Korea's presidential office and the White House announced Tuesday.

It will be the first time for South Korea and the US to release a separate statement on extended deterrence as part of a summit outcome. Documentation on a nuclear umbrella in the form of a statement is an extraordinary measure for an ally. In connection with Yoon’s state visit to the US, the South Korean government has placed top priority on strengthening the effectiveness of extended deterrence.

Considering North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats, it is timely to adopt such a statement.

The North has been intensifying provocations and nuclear rhetoric. Pyongyang launched a record 69 ballistic missiles in 2022. Recently North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened nuclear attacks on South Korea in front of a map on the South. The North test-fired a new solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, which is said to be difficult to detect early.

North Korea reportedly possesses dozens of nuclear warheads. It continues to advance vehicles that carry them, escalating a sense of crisis in the South that is not nuclear armed. This is why public support for South Korea's development of nuclear weapons is strong.

The US has vowed in principle several times to offer extended deterrence including nuclear weapons. However, the South Korean people feel uneasy about taking the US' word for it. US nuclear retaliation will likely lead to the North’s nuclear attack on the US mainland. Many in the South question if the US is willing to risk being attacked by a nuclear weapons to retaliate against the North.

But nuclear armament is an impracticable option. The international community won’t tolerate it. The US will oppose South Korea developing its own nuclear weapons. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, "The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has been a good steward of its non-proliferation obligations under the (Non-Proliferation Treaty) and will continue to do so."

So, eyes are on what the statement will contain.

In connection with this issue, Yoon said in a recent interview with Reuters that "in terms of responding to a powerful nuclear attack, I think stronger measures than what NATO has should be prepared."

US nuclear weapons facilities are deployed in five members of NATO. NATO's nuclear planning group acts as the senior body on nuclear matters in the alliance and discusses specific policy issues associated with nuclear forces.

In view of Sullivan's remarks that "the statement will send a very clear and demonstrable signal of the United States' credibility when it comes to its extended deterrence commitments to the Republic of Korea and the people of Korea," the statement is likely to declare if North Korea attacks South Korea with nuclear weapons, the US will retaliate with nuclear weapons.

John Hill, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for space and missile defense, said during a House hearing on April 18 that any nuclear attack by North Korea will be met with nuclear retaliation by the United States.

It is difficult to state categorically about the content of the statement because it has not been released yet, but it is expected to contain content that strengthens South Korea’s say in the nuclear umbrella.

The statement will give a strong warning to the North that if it attacks South Korea with nuclear weapons, Pyongyang will be retaliated against with nuclear weapons.

It will be a crucial occasion to ease South Koreans’ concerns over North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities and take the 70-year US alliance a step further.

And it will have to be buttressed quickly by follow-up measures such as the creation of a new consultative body to deal with planning and execution of the nuclear umbrella.