- Because of the threat from North Korea, the US and South Korea want to expand “the scope and scope” of their joint military maneuvers.
- The same applies to military training and further education, it was said after a bilateral meeting between the two presidents in Seoul.
- The announcement is likely to be an affront to North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un. He rejects the military maneuvers as a warlike provocation.
- The USA and South Korea are also offering North Korea help in the fight against the corona epidemic. One is ready for fast vaccine deliveries. North Korea has not yet responded to the offer.
In view of the conflict over North Korea’s nuclear program, US President Joe Biden has not fundamentally ruled out a meeting with ruler Kim Jong Un. This would depend on whether Kim acts “honestly” and means it “seriously,” said Biden on Saturday when asked by a journalist in Seoul. The goal is still “the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” emphasized Biden at a joint press conference with the new South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
North Korea has tested missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead several times this year. Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, met with Kim three times between June 2018 and June 2019 to persuade North Korea to disarm. Ultimately, the negotiations failed.
US wants to defend South Korea with “full range”.
According to experts, Pyongyang is pushing ahead with its missile and weapons programs. South Korea and the United States fear that North Korea could conduct a new missile or even nuclear weapons test around Biden’s visit. Instead of “nuclear disarmament”, the USA and South and North Korea speak of a “denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula. This is a deliberately chosen, vague term that gives diplomats leeway in negotiations.
The United States and South Korea, in turn, see Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons program as a threat. Biden has assured Yoon that the US remains committed to deploying the “full range” of its military capabilities to defend South Korea, including nuclear weapons, conventional weapons and missile defense systems, if necessary.
Tense security situation and multiple missile tests
The intention behind this strategy of extended deterrence is to deter potential adversaries – in this case North Korea – from attacking. A good 28,000 US soldiers are stationed in South Korea. Biden is on a three-day state visit to South Korea as part of his first trip to Asia as President. Biden sees the alliance with South Korea as a “linchpin for peace, stability and prosperity” in the region.
Biden’s visit is overshadowed by the tense security situation on the Korean peninsula. North Korea has tested missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead several times this year. South Korea and the United States fear that North Korea could conduct a new missile or even nuclear weapons test around Biden’s visit.