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U.S.'s nuclear commitment to ROK may be 'unrealistic': experts
Updated 15:12, 02-May-2023
CGTN

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Experts have said that the Washington Declaration, jointly issued by the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) this week, could be "unrealistic" as it may fail to assuage Seoul's concerns about the pledge made by the U.S. to strengthen "extended deterrence" against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

According to the declaration, the U.S. and the ROK agree to increase military exercises and training activities, conduct table-top simulations, establish a new Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) and expand the U.S. regular visibility of strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula.

The implementation of the NCG agreements, including which agencies and who will be in charge, can influence the scope of the ROK's role in U.S. nuclear planning decisions, according to experts. 

How much say the ROK has on U.S. decisions is "a question that can only be answered in the implementation of the agreement," Gary Samore, who served as White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, told U.S. media.

"We have the commitment from the U.S. to consult, jointly plan, exchange information. But we don't know exactly how that will be translated into action until this consulting group is set up and begins to operate," Samore said.

Some U.S. media reports have suggested the declaration is "a fig leaf" for the U.S. to dissuade the ROK from going nuclear.

The most important goal for the U.S. has probably been to try to dampen the ROK's ideas about developing its own nuclear weapons, said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, according to U.S. media.

At the same time, Washington dismissed a possibility of stationing U.S. nuclear weapons in the ROK after its commitment of "extended deterrence."

"The Biden administration has made clear that nuclear weapons will not be deployed to the ROK, but that Seoul will be closely tied to planning efforts as well as how the ROK's conventional capabilities will be integrated into any U.S. nuclear operation," said Terence Roehrig, a professor of national security and Korea expert at the U.S. Naval War College, according to U.S. media.

"The big question is whether the Washington Declaration will quell the calls in the ROK for its own nuclear weapons, and that remains to be seen." 

Kristensen added that "the South (ROK) might feel better for a while but will probably continue to express doubts about the security commitment."

(With input from agencies)

(Cover: ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol listens as U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 26, 2023. /CFP) 

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