President Biden plans to use a state visit by South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol to launch a set of new measures aimed at publicly countering the growing nuclear threat from North Korea.
The measures are set to be outlined in a joint document called the “Washington Declaration,” which will include language and initiatives designed to give Seoul more confidence that the United States would respond aggressively in the event of a nuclear strike by Pyongyang, according to three senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that were not yet public.
The South Korean public has become more supportive than ever of having their own nuclear weapons, a sentiment that was once considered fringe but is now mainstream. For the past decade, public polls have shown a majority of South Koreans support nuclear armament, and now, upward of 70 percent of the population supports it. Their voices have grown only stronger in the face of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and an assertive China.
For its part, South Korea will recommit to its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, affirming publicly that it will refrain from pursuing nuclear weapons of its own despite the threat it faces from North Korea, officials said. Biden’s exact remarks Wednesday will be watched closely by a growing number of South Korean citizens who are concerned that the U.S. commitment to their security may waver amid the shifting global landscape — from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to China’s threats against Taiwan to North Korea’s rapidly advancing program of missile launches.
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