Biden Tells South Korea There Would Be Nuclear Response to a North Korean Attack

In a bold move to deter North Korea’s growing aggression, the Biden administration has agreed to send nuclear submarines to South Korea and expand U.S. weapons coordination with the country. During a joint press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden stated, “We’re not going to be stationing nuclear weapons on the Peninsula, but we will have port visits of nuclear submarines and things like that.”

In exchange for the U.S.’s commitment to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack on South Korea “quickly, overwhelmingly, and decisively, using the full force of the alliance, including the United States’s nuclear weapons,” Yoon confirmed his “commitment to the nonproliferation treaty” with the United Nations.

Despite Biden’s campaign promise to make nuclear-arms reduction a “central pillar of U.S. global leadership,” the move on Wednesday highlights cracks in the administration’s nonproliferation strategy. Yoon has been under increasing domestic pressure to develop a nuclear program due to concerns that the U.S. may refuse to deploy nuclear weapons in response to a major attack on Seoul by North Korea.

North Korea and Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear Ambitions

In recent months, North Korea has launched cruise missiles towards South Korea and ramped up its weapons testing. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is reportedly taking steps towards a nuclear program, potentially with help from China or Russia, after the Obama administration’s deal with Iran failed to stop the regime’s continued march towards the bomb.

The fact that the U.S. had to issue new assurances to South Korea on Wednesday is a “reflection of allies’ loss of confidence in the United States, in no small part thanks to Biden,” according to a former National Security Council official. The former official added that Wednesday’s deal might not be enough to instill confidence in the U.S. among the South Korean public and leadership, stating, “There’s a non-trivial risk South Korea begins moving to develop their own nukes.”