South Korea Seeks Joint Exercises With US Using Nuclear Assets: PM Yoon

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a ceremony marking Korean Memorial Day at the Seoul National cemetery on June 6, 2022. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

South Korea’s president said Monday that his nation is in talks with the United States about possible joint exercises using U.S. nuclear assets, after North Korea called for “an exponential increase” in its nuclear arsenal.

“Nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but information sharing, planning, and training must be jointly conducted by South Korea and the United States,” President Yoon Suk-yeol told Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

Yoon did not go into detail about their discussion, but he said that the U.S. side was “quite positive” about the idea.

According to him, the U.S. strategy of providing a “nuclear umbrella” or “extended deterrence” to South Korea is not reassuring enough to guarantee public safety now that North Korea has developed its own nuclear weapons.

“In the past, the concept of a nuclear umbrella or extended deterrence was preparation against the Soviet Union and China before North Korea developed nuclear weapons, and a way of the U.S. telling us not to worry because it will take care of everything,” he said.

“Now, it is difficult to convince our people with just that. The U.S. government understands this to some degree,” Yoon added.

When asked about the possibility of nuclear sharing between South Korea and the United States, Yoon claimed that “the word nuclear sharing actually feels burdensome for the United States.”

“Instead, if South Korea and the U.S. develop a plan for the operation of nuclear forces based on shared information, as well as the concept of joint exercises, training, and operations, it will be as effective as nuclear sharing,” he added.

A U.S. Army soldier stands on an armored vehicle during an annual exercise in Yeoncheon, near the border with North Korea, on March 7, 2016. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Yoon said that he would be willing to hold an inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if it contributes to peace on the Korean Peninsula.

“We have to start with dialogue on humanitarian issues and open the door to contact and dialogue between South and North. The two countries should discuss the agenda to some extent and set the direction,” he said. “There is no reason to reject the meeting, but will a show-off meeting really help peace on the Korean Peninsula?”

North Korea Calls for Larger Nuclear Arsenal

His remarks came just a day after North Korean state media reported that Kim had called for the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and a larger nuclear arsenal to counter enemy threats.

Kim accused the United States and South Korea of trying to “isolate and stifle” North Korea with U.S. nuclear strike assets constantly deployed in South Korea, calling it “unprecedented in human history.”

He vowed to develop another ICBM system “whose main mission is quick nuclear counter-strike” under a plan to bolster the country’s nuclear force, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is launched in this undated photo released on Nov. 19, 2022, by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA via Reuters)

“It highlights the importance and necessity of a mass-producing of tactical nuclear weapons and calls for an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal,” Kim said, adding these would be a “main orientation” of the 2023 nuclear and defense strategy.

As part of the plan, the regime will also launch its first military satellite “at the earliest date possible” by accelerating its drive to build a spy satellite, with preparations in the final stage, KCNA said.

North Korea also launched three ballistic missiles on Saturday, capping a year marked by a record number of missile tests.

South Korea Warns of ‘End’ of Kim Jong Un Regime

The South Korean Defense Ministry issued a statement in response to the KCNA report, saying that any nuclear strike by North Korea would lead to the end of Kim’s regime, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The ministry urged North Korea to return to denuclearization and warned that any nuclear attack by North Korea would trigger its three-axis defense system—preemptive strike, missile defense, and retaliatory attack capabilities.

“Our military will build a military readiness posture to sternly retaliate against any symmetric or asymmetric North Korean provocations based on the determination not to hesitate to even go to war,” the ministry said in a text message to reporters.

North Korea fired an unprecedented number of missiles in 2022, pressing on with weapons development amid speculation it could test a nuclear weapon for a seventh time.

In November, the North also resumed testing ICBMs for the first time since 2017, successfully launching the massive new Hwasong-17, potentially able to strike anywhere in the United States.

Reuters contributed to this report.