US-South Korea Summit Delivers Strong Message to North Korea: We’re United and Ready

On Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden held a summit in Washington, D.C. They issued a joint statement announcing the signing of the Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula, which includes a solid response to North Korea’s nuclear provocations.

In the joint statement, the two leaders declared “that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the ROK will be met with a swift, overwhelming, and decisive response.”

Biden stressed that the full spectrum of American capabilities, including nuclear options, bolsters the U.S.’s extended deterrence commitment to South Korea. Concurrently, Yoon affirmed that South Korea’s capabilities across all categories will play a substantial role in enhancing the combined defense posture of the ROK-U.S. alliance.

They confirmed that “The progress made since the establishment of the U.S.-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) demonstrates the truly global, comprehensive, strategic alliance between the two countries, the ever-stronger mutual defense relationship, and our shared interest in peace, stability, and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

They further explained that the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) plays a vital role in the ROK-U.S. alliance by facilitating joint planning and executing conventional support for U.S. nuclear operations during crises. Moreover, the NCG enhances the ongoing development of ROK-U.S. joint exercise and training efforts through regular tabletop exercises and comprehensive government-wide simulations.

The two leaders swiftly agreed to advance on various tasks under the NCG framework. These include expanding security procedures and information sharing, enhancing crisis and contingency nuclear consultation procedures, improving nuclear and strategic planning, bolstering conventional support for U.S. nuclear operations during crises through ROK-U.S. nuclear-conventional integration, and implementing risk reduction measures.