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Next North Korea nuclear test could lead US to deploy ‘strategic assets’ to South Korea, two allies say
- Joint statement from Washington and Seoul also describing expanded military drills points to closer bilateral ties as US-China relations languish
- Concerns over North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal run high after latest launch of cruise missiles off its west coast just hours earlier
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Washington and Seoul vowed on Wednesday to expand their joint military drills and deepen security cooperation with Japan amid rising tensions in the region, affirming they may deploy US nuclear “strategic assets” on the peninsula if Pyongyang conducts an anticipated nuclear test.
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The joint statement from the Pentagon and South Korean defence ministry presented the latest evidence of an increasingly close alliance between the two countries as US-China relations languish and concerns run high over North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal.
It came soon after North Korea launched two cruise missiles off its west coast earlier on Wednesday, and just days after China fired a barrage of missiles near Taiwan and Japan following US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.
“US officials reaffirmed the ironclad US commitment to the defence of the ROK, leveraging the full range of US military capabilities – to include nuclear, conventional, missile defence, and other advanced non-nuclear capabilities,” the statement said, using an acronym for the Republic of Korea, South Korea’s official name.
The statement rounded off two days of bilateral meetings between high-level defence officials in Seoul, known as the Korea-US Integrated Defence Dialogue. It was the 21st such meeting between the two sides.
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