Nuclear Tensions Rise On Korean Peninsula

Nuclear rhetoric has escalated on the Korean Peninsula with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol making hawkish comments on North Korea's nuclear programme and boarding a nuclear-armed US submarine.

• According to Yonhap, Yoon said that a North Korean "nuclear provocation" should be unthinkable and would "lead to end of [the Kim] regime."
• Comes as the USS Kentucky yesterday became the first nuclear-armed US submarine to visit South Korea since the 1980s - part of an agreement between Yoon and President Biden in April to place Seoul firmly within the US nuclear umbrella.
• ROK Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup said the submarine visit “shows the allies’ overwhelming capability and posture against North Korea,” and represents a continued hawkish pivot from the Yoon administration.
• Yoon's hard line on Pyongyang might be taken with an eye on his domestic approval rating, which has seen a modest recovery since his White House State Visit in April, but remains deeply underwater at 24%, according to Morning Consult.
• The increased risk environment, which includes a potential 7th North Korean nuclear test, is also complicated by a lack of open defence-to-defence channels between the US and China.