Advisers to South Korean president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol sought redeployment of US strategic assets, such as nuclear bombers and submarines, to the Korean Peninsula during talks held on a visit to Washington, one of the advisers said yesterday.
The team of foreign policy and security aides to Yoon met US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, as Yoon seeks a more constant security presence to deter threats from North Korea as it steps up weapons tests.
“Deploying the strategic assets is an important element of reinforcing the extended deterrence, and the issue naturally came up during the discussions,” Park Jin, a four-term lawmaker who led the delegation, told reporters.
Photo: EPA-EFE
He added that both sides explored ways to bolster US extended nuclear deterrence at the talks on coordinating efforts against the North Korean threat held on a trip that also aimed to secure an early summit with US President Joe Biden.
Asked about such talks and whether Washington supported the deployments to South Korea, a White House official said that both sides had “discussed generally” the US defense commitments.
Yoon, set to be sworn in on May 10, is mapping out his foreign policy agenda after winning the March 9 election, just as tension flares after Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last month.
The deployment of US bombers, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines is part of Yoon’s election plank promising to “respond firmly” to the North’s threats.
Yoon has also vowed to “normalize” joint military drills with the US that were scaled back under South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in a bid to placate Pyongyang and resume stalled talks to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons.
North Korea has long denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for war, and the allies have reduced field training and shunned use of major weapons, such as bombers and air carriers, focusing instead on computer simulations.
However, Park did not elaborate when asked about plans for regular spring exercises, which local media have said could include nuclear bombers for the first time in nearly five years.
“We agreed that what’s most important is to maintain deterrence so that we can strongly respond to any possible North Korean provocations,” he said, whether ICBM launches or psychological warfare in the form of verbal attacks.
The delegation invited Biden to visit Seoul when he travels to Asia to meet the Quad grouping of nations, which also includes Japan, Australia and India, Park added.
He also delivered a letter to Biden from Yoon highlighting his “solid willingness and vision” to advance ties not only on North Korea, but also economic security and other issues, he said.
DISASTER: The Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded a magnitude 5.7 and tremors reached as far as Kolkata, India, more than 300km away from the epicenter A powerful earthquake struck Bangladesh yesterday outside the crowded capital, Dhaka, killing at least five people and injuring about a hundred, the government said. The magnitude 5.5 quake struck at 10:38am near Narsingdi, Bangladesh, about 33km from Dhaka, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The earthquake sparked fear and chaos with many in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people at home on their day off. AFP reporters in Dhaka said they saw people weeping in the streets while others appeared shocked. Bangladesh Interim Leader Muhammad Yunus expressed his “deep shock and sorrow over the news of casualties in various districts.” At least five people,
ON THE LAM: The Brazilian Supreme Court said that the former president tried to burn his ankle monitor off as part of an attempt to orchestrate his escape from Brazil Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro — under house arrest while he appeals a conviction for a foiled coup attempt — was taken into custody on Saturday after the Brazilian Supreme Court deemed him a high flight risk. The court said the far-right firebrand — who was sentenced to 27 years in prison over a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections — had attempted to disable his ankle monitor to flee. Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes said Bolsonaro’s detention was a preventive measure as final appeals play out. In a video made
It is one of the world’s most famous unsolved codes whose answer could sell for a fortune — but two US friends say they have already found the secret hidden by Kryptos. The S-shaped copper sculpture has baffled cryptography enthusiasts since its 1990 installation on the grounds of the CIA headquarters in Virginia, with three of its four messages deciphered so far. Yet K4, the final passage, has kept codebreakers scratching their heads. Sculptor Jim Sanborn, 80, has been so overwhelmed by guesses that he started charging US$50 for each response. Sanborn in August announced he would auction the 97-character solution to K4
SHOW OF FORCE: The US has held nine multilateral drills near Guam in the past four months, which Australia said was important to deter coercion in the region Five Chinese research vessels, including ships used for space and missile tracking and underwater mapping, were active in the northwest Pacific last month, as the US stepped up military exercises, data compiled by a Guam-based group shows. Rapid militarization in the northern Pacific gets insufficient attention, the Pacific Center for Island Security said, adding that it makes island populations a potential target in any great-power conflict. “If you look at the number of US and bilateral and multilateral exercises, there is a lot of activity,” Leland Bettis, the director of the group that seeks to flag regional security risks, said in an
RSS