The head of the Pentagon announced the readiness of the United States to use nuclear weapons to protect South Korea The United States is ready to use nuclear weapons to protect South Korea, Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said.
According to him, the DPRK staged an "unprecedented number of provocations" in 2022, destabilizing the situation in the region. Earlier this year, South Korean President Yun Seok-yel said that his country's army could conduct joint nuclear exercises with the US Armed Forces. At the same time, the South Korean Defense Minister avoided answering the question about military assistance to Ukraine.
The US leadership is ready to use conventional and nuclear weapons to deter the DPRK and protect the Republic of Korea. This was stated by Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin during a joint press conference with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jung-sop in Seoul, TASS reports.
According to Austin, expanded deterrence includes not only the use of conventional weapons of the US army and Navy, but also nuclear weapons and missile defense.
The Pentagon chief added that over the past year, North Korea has staged an "unprecedented number of provocations" in the region. The Minister stressed that the United States and South Korea condemn the dangerous actions of the DPRK, destabilizing the situation in the region of the Korean peninsula.
Lloyd Austin also recalled that 28.5 thousand American soldiers are currently stationed in South Korea - one of the largest overseas contingents of the US Armed Forces. "This demonstrates our unwavering commitment to maintaining peace on the Korean peninsula," he concluded.
The Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Lee Jung-sop, said that Washington and Seoul decided to expand the scale of military exercises in 2023.
"The two leaders agreed to expand the scale and scope of the combined field exercises and hold a large-scale joint demonstration of joint firing this year," the official said in a statement.
The reason for this was the increased military tests and firing conducted by the North Korean army. The defense ministers of the United States and South Korea also stressed in a joint communique that it is necessary to improve the exchange of intelligence information between the two states in order to adequately respond to Pyongyang's missile threat.
In addition, Lee Jung-sop refrained from a direct answer to the question about the possibility of supplying military assistance to Ukraine.
The position of the Russian Federation
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on January 30 that the likely deployment of US nuclear weapons in South Korea could cause unpleasant consequences.
"The return of American nuclear weapons to the South of the Korean Peninsula would bring particularly unpleasant consequences, which began to be openly discussed in the Republic of Korea - this step would inevitably have to be taken into account in the defense planning of Russia and, I think, China," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
At the same time, US President Joe Biden claimed that Washington and Seoul have not yet discussed the possibility of involving American nuclear forces in joint military exercises.
NATO Statement
On January 30, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the United States was "fulfilling an important task" for its allies against the background of the policies of Russia, China and North Korea.
In his opinion, the world may be in greater danger if NATO nuclear powers, such as the United States and France, give up nuclear weapons.
"The expanded deterrence covers, thanks to US funds, NATO countries and some NATO partners, such as the Republic of Korea, who do not have their own nuclear weapons," Stoltenberg said, adding that "this makes it possible to prevent their proliferation."
Do the Koreans want nuclear weapons?
More than 70% of South Koreans supported the development of their own nuclear weapons in the country. The data of the poll was published by Yonhap agency on January 30.
The publication notes that against the background of a possible threat from the DPRK and a lack of confidence in diplomacy, 76.6% of South Koreans believe that the country needs to launch the development of its own nuclear weapons. Another 72% of South Korean citizens are convinced that their republic will be able to create its own nuclear weapons. Another 63.5% of the survey participants also believe in the possibility of developing Korean nuclear weapons in Japan. 78.6% of respondents noted that Pyongyang is likely to conduct nuclear tests for the seventh time.
Peter Nikolaev
