US will nuke North Korea if it attacks South Korea – WSJ

South Korea has agreed with the United States on a mechanism for immediate consultations with the presidency in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack, securing the promise of an atomic response. Reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The United States will give South Korea a central role in strategic planning for the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict with North Korea, in exchange for Seoul not seeking to develop its own nuclear weapons arsenal and maintain a denuclearized status. The above agreement, which the parties call the Washington Declaration, forms one of the main parts of the South Korean President’s visit to the United States.

While the United States has never officially adopted a no-first-use policy, officials say such a decision could be taken after North Korea uses nuclear weapons against South Korea.

The WSJ noted that the United States placed tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea in 1958, but removed them after the end of the Cold War in 1991. South Korea, under pressure from the United States, renounced its nuclear weapons program and joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Accordingly, countries that do not possess nuclear weapons undertake never to develop or purchase them.

Recall that South Korean President Yun Sok-yeol said on April 19 that his country would be able to supply Ukraine with weapons in case of a large-scale attack on the civilian population.

On April 12, information became available about the agreement to supply South Korea with 500,000 South Korean artillery shells of 155 mm caliber for lease to the United States. That’s about half the amount the US transferred to Ukraine last year.