WASHINGTON: The United States has no plans to forward-deploy nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula, a State Department spokesperson said Thursday, amid a resurgent debate over the idea of Washington redeploying tactical nuclear arms to Korea for deterrence against North Korean threats.
Vedant Patel, the department’s deputy spokesperson, made the remarks in response to a question about Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent remarks that Moscow may consider additional nuclear deterrence steps in the event of the US deploying ground-launched intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM) to the Indo-Pacific.
“Let me just say that the US does not assess returning nuclear weapons to the Indo-Pacific as necessary at this time,” Patel told a press briefing. “The US has no plans to forward-deploy nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula.”
He pointed out that it was Russia that has engaged in “nuclear saber-rattling.”
“Let’s not forget that it is the Russian Federation that time and time again dating back
to the early days of its aggression into Ukraine that it has recklessly participated in a nuclear saber-rattling, talking about the use and deployment of nuclear weapons,” Patel said.
In a recent interview with Rossiya Segodnya, a Russian media group, Lavrov said that Moscow may consider taking additional steps to strengthen its nuclear deterrence should Washington deploy IRBMs to the region, according to a transcript on the website of Russia’s foreign ministry.
A debate over the idea of the US redeploying nuclear weapons to Korea has resurfaced as US Republican senators floated the redeployment idea for stronger deterrence against evolving North Korean threats.
US tactical nuclear weapons were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in 1991. South Korea has since adhered to its non-nuclear status while relying on America’s security commitment, including its pledge to use its nuclear assets to defend its ally in a contingency.
At the briefing, Patel condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launches this week
and took note of China’s role in helping address the security challenge from the North.
“We continue to believe that there are countries who have a relationship with the DPRK and have influence with the DPRK, and (countries) that have a responsibility to rein in and influence some of the malign and bad behavior that we are seeing, especially a country like the People’s Republic of China which sits on the UN Security Council,” he said.
DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Patel also commented on the North having sent balloons carrying trash and fecal matter to the South this week. calling the move “malign” and “destabilizing.”
“Any kind of aerial object … certainly, we would find (it) destabilizing and provocative,” he said. “We continue to consult closely with the Republic of Korea and Japan against these kinds of malign and destabilizing behaviors.”
Source: Philippines News Agency
