The U.S. has agreed to give Seoul a greater voice in consultations on a potential American nuclear response to a North Korean attack in return for swearing off developing its own nuclear weapons, U.S. officials said.
The accord would grant South Korea’s leadership a long-sought place at the table on the use of U.S. nuclear forces to defend the country, though the U.S. would still retain control over targeting and the execution of nuclear operations.
Seoul, in return, would restate its commitment not to develop its own nuclear arsenal.
President Joe Biden and his counterpart, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, will unveil the new agreement in Washington on Wednesday, the officials said.
The Washington Declaration, as it’s known, won’t involve the U.S. deploying nuclear weapons to the South, as it did during the Cold War, the officials said.
Instead the U.S. will increase the number of military assets it sends to the country on a temporary basis, such as a nuclear-armed submarine and bombers.
The officials likened it to cooperation with European allies in the Cold War during similar periods of threat.
The declaration would also improve joint training, information-sharing and military exercises in “deterring and defending” against the North, an official said.
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