US, South Korea sign joint nuclear guidelines amid North Korean threats

The US and South Korea signed joint nuclear deterrence guidelines, weeks after North Korea and Russia struck a defence pact that deepened concerns in the region about the North's growing nuclear threats.

Meeting Thursday on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Washington, President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol commended what they called the tremendous progress that their countries' alliance have made a year after creating a joint Nuclear Consultative Group.

Last year, the US and South Korea launched the bilateral consultation body to enhance information-sharing on nuclear and strategic operations. The US will retain the control of its nuclear weapons, and the body's establishment was meant to ease South Korean worries about North Korean nuclear threats.

The two leaders authorised the US-ROK Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula that was signed by their defence officials earlier Thursday, according to South Korea's ...