President Yoon: We Must Speed Up US/ROK/Japan Security Cooperation

Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk-yeul has told a joint session of the United States Congress that the ROK, the US, and Japan must "speed up trilateral security cooperation to counter increasing North Korean nuclear threats."

• Yoon said that, "Seoul will respond firmly to North Korean provocations, but will keep the door open for dialogue on North Korean denuclearization."
• Yoon and President Biden yesterday formalised a new nuclear deterrent doctrine known as the Washington Declaration. The doctrine will provide the most substantial movement of US nuclear capabilities into the region in decades, although no US nuclear warheads will be permanently stored on ROK territory.
• President Biden also appeared to move away from a period of faltering diplomacy by stating that a North Korean nuclear strike on the Republic of Korea would result in the "end" of the Kim regime in Pyeongyang, firmly placing South Korea under the US nuclear umbrella.
• Yoon's reference to increased cooperation with Japan will please Biden administration officials who envision a long-term Indo-Pacific strategy, with a eye on China, fulcrumed on a robust bilateral partnership between Seoul and Tokyo.