Biden to Unveil New ‘Extended Deterrence’ Measures Against North Korea During Summit With Yoon

Get ready for some major news! U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are set to announce a new suite of “major deliverables on extended deterrence” aimed at “denuclearizing” North Korea. This is huge! White House officials confirmed the news on Monday, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a press conference that the two leaders will have an extensive discussion about reinforced and enhanced extended deterrence commitments.

What exactly are these “reinforced and enhanced” deterrence measures? We don’t know yet, but Sullivan did say they include “major deliverables on extended deterrence” and will be revealed during a 70th anniversary celebration of the US-ROK defense treaty with Yoon on April 26.

One thing is for sure, Biden will deliver a message that “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 (ROK; South Korea) and to the people of Korea.”

This news comes after the biggest U.S.-ROK military field exercises in years with sustained, separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups and B-52 bombers, which was delivered in March. North Korea responded on April 13 with a message of its own—the latest in its increasing tempo of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flight-tests, launching its first-ever solid-fuel rocket, rattling South Korea and causing evacuations on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

A Trilateral Defense Against Dual Threats

But that’s not all! In addition to revealing “new” nuclear deterrence efforts, Sullivan said the president will introduce a cyber security initiative while continuing to encourage economic investments and partnerships with South Korean corporations. “Just in the last two years, [South Korean businesses] invested more than $100 billion in the United States,” he said.

Yoon is scheduled to tour NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center with Vice President Kamala Harris and visit the Korean War Memorial with Biden on April 25. They will hold a joint news conference April 26 before a White House state dinner. Yoon will address Congress on April 27.

This is a big moment for the United States and South Korea, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds!