As South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol wrapped up his week-long visit to the United States on Sunday, there is growing criticism here that Seoul is taking the lead in strengthening a new Cold War in Northeast Asia and beyond.

"South Korea is showing signs of regressing back to Cold War-style diplomacy," said Woo Su-keun, head of the Institute of East Asian Studies of Korea, who said that the visit did not come up with a substantive solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

The problem in the region should be solved by the countries in the region, Woo believed, stressing that it is highly undesirable for regional security and stability that nuclear weapons or sophisticated weapons are frequently brought to the Korean Peninsula, regardless of the country or the method used.

Shin Jin-wook, professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University, said in a Hankyoreh newspaper column that South Korea became a "new Cold War facilitator" for politics on the peninsula, in East Asia and even the world.

Shin said the Yoon government was taking the lead in strengthening and completing a new Cold War, rather than seeking to de-escalate tensions on the peninsula.

The Yoon administration gave everything the U.S. and Japanese hardliners wanted, turning South Korea into a weak country without any control, participation or autonomy, according to the column.

Following the two leaders' meeting, South Korea and the United States issued the Washington Declaration, which announced the establishment of a new Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) and the upcoming visit of a U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarine to South Korea for the purpose of strengthening the so-called "extended deterrence."

The Hankyoreh warned in another article that if the United States deploys more "strategic assets," including nuclear-capable submarines, to the Korean Peninsula, tensions on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia are feared to rise.

In an interview with CCTV, Kwon Ki-sik, the chair professor at the Seoul Media Institute of Technology, noted Yoon's visit has brought about a negative impact on the peace and stability of the peninsula.

He pointed out strengthening the so-called extended deterrence will not be conducive to the peace and stability of the regional situation as the agreement to send U.S. strategic nuclear submarines to the peninsula will eventually aggravate the nuclear crisis on the peninsula.

Yoon has decided to make South Korea a loyal partner of the U.S. "Indo-Pacific Strategy" aimed at containing China, Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper said in an editorial, questioning whether the government's "value-centered diplomacy" will bring tangible benefits to the country.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: A TV screen at Seoul Railway Station shows U.S. President Joe Biden with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Washington, U.S., April 27, 2023. /AP)