This statement comes after several shots from North Korea in the past few days.
The United States and South Korea are preparing “a coordinated and concrete response to a range of scenarios, including North Korea’s use of nuclear weapons,” a Security Council spokesman said Tuesday at the National White House.
However, he clarified that these preparations would not include “joint nuclear exercises” as South Korea is not armed with nuclear weapons. “The United States fully supports our alliance with South Korea, providing it with a comprehensive deterrent capability based on the full breadth of America’s defense arsenal,” he added.
Several recent shots from North Korea
This clarification from the American executive comes after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told him that America’s “nuclear umbrella” and its “enhanced deterrence” are no longer sufficient to reassure the South Koreans.
“Nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but preparation, information sharing, exercises and training must be jointly conducted by South Korea and the United States,” he said.
These developments from Washington and Seoul come in response to shocking new statements by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday calling for an “exponential increase in North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.” The ruling Labor Party also announced that the country will “develop a new ICBM system, the main purpose of which will be rapid nuclear counterattack.”
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday, the South Korean military reported, as quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap. Pyongyang also launched three new ballistic missiles on Saturday.